Ba_1.5-xSr_xZr₄P₅SiO₂₄ compounds withx = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25 and 1.5, belonging to the low thermal expansion NZP family were synthesized by the solid state reaction method. The XRD pattern could be completely indexed with respect to$$R\bar 3$$ space group indicating the ordering of vacancy at the divalent cation octahedral sites. The microstructure and bulk thermal expansion coefficient from room temperature to 800°C of the sintered samples have been studied. All the samples show very low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), withx = 0 samples showing negative expansion. A small substitution of strontium in the pure barium compound changes the sign of CTE. Similarly,x = 1.5 sample (pure strontium) shows a positive CTE and a small substitution of barium changes its sign.X = 1.0 and 1.25 samples have almost constant CTE over the entire temperature range. The low thermal expansion of these samples can be attributed to the ordering of the ions in the crystal structure of these materials

Semiconductor fabrication process begins with photolithography. Preparing a photo mask is the key process step in photolithography. The photo mask was fabricated by inscribing patterns directly onto a soda lime glass with the help of a laser beam, as it is easily controllable. Laser writer LW405-A was used for preparing the mask in this study. Exposure wavelength of 405 nm was used, with which 1.2 𝜇m feature size can be written in direct write-mode over the soda lime glass plate. The advantage of using the fabricated mask is that it can be used to design back contacts for thin film Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells. To investigate the process capability of LW405-A, same pattern with different line widths was written on soda lime glass samples at different writing speeds. The pattern was inscribed without proximity effect and stitching errors, which was characterized using optical microscope and field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). It was proven that writing speed of a mask-writer is decided according to the intended feature size and line width. As the writing speed increases, the edges of the patterns become rougher due to uneven scattering of the laser beam. From the fabricated mask, the solar cell can be developed embedding both the contacts at the bottom layer, to increase the absorption of solar radiation on the top surface effectively by increasing light absorption area.