Patent ID: 7829356

Claim:
A method for improving thin film scribe parameters, comprising: preparing a control sample having first and second back contact pads formed over a front contact layer, wherein no material is deposited onto the front contact layer prior to forming the first and second back contact pads; preparing first and second test samples having an absorber layer deposited over a front contact layer; removing a surface of the absorber layer of the first test sample at a first scribe setting; removing a surface of the absorber layer of the second test sample at a second scribe setting; depositing first and second back contact pads on each of the first and second test samples; determining the contact resistance of each of the control sample, the first test sample, and the second test sample; comparing the contact resistance of each of the first and second test samples to the contact resistance of the control sample; and determining the preferred scribe setting between the first scribe setting and the second scribe setting.