Patent ID: 8232134

Claim:
A method for forming a thin film photovoltaic device, the method comprising: providing a transparent substrate comprising a surface region; forming a first transparent electrode layer overlying the surface region of the transparent substrate, the first transparent electrode layer having an electrode surface region forming a multilayered structure including a copper material and an indium material overlying the electrode surface region; subjecting the multilayered structure to a plurality of sulfur bearing entities; subjecting the multilayered structure to a rapid thermal process using a ramp time ranging from about 10 Degrees Celsius/second to about 50 Degrees Celsius/second during the subjecting of the sulfur bearing entities to form an absorber material comprising a copper entity, an indium entity, and a sulfur entity; forming a cap layer overlying the absorber material; exposing the cap layer to a solution comprising an etchant; selectively removing a portion of the cap layer; and maintaining the first transparent electrode layer to a sheet resistance of less than or equal to about 10 Ohms/square centimeters and an optical transmission of 90 percent and greater.