Disclosed herein is a method of manufacturing a bonded substrate, including the steps of: forming a first bonding layer on a surface on one side of a semiconductor substrate; forming a second bonding layer on a surface on one side of a support substrate; adhering the first bonding layer and the second bonding layer to each other; a heat treatment for bonding the first bonding layer and the second bonding layer to each other; and thinning the semiconductor substrate from a surface on the other side of the semiconductor substrate to form a semiconductor layer.

Variations of this invention provide durable, impact-resistant structural coatings that have both dewetting and anti-icing properties. The coatings in some embodiments possess a self-similar structure that combines a low-cost matrix with two feature sizes that are tuned to affect the wetting of water and freezing of water on the surface. Dewetting and anti-icing performance is simultaneously achieved in a structural coating comprising multiple layers, wherein each layer includes (a) a continuous matrix; (b) discrete templates dispersed that promote surface roughness to inhibit wetting of water; and (c) nanoparticles that inhibit heterogeneous nucleation of water. These structural coatings utilize low-cost, lightweight, and environmentally benign materials that can be rapidly sprayed over large areas using convenient coating processes. The presence of multiple layers means that if the surface is damaged during use, freshly exposed surface will expose a coating identical to that which was removed, for extended lifetime.

A coated glass or glass ceramic substrate with a local-area and/or full-area layer having haptic properties is provided. The layer has a haptically perceptible texture and includes texturing inorganic and/or polysiloxane-based particles that are fixed on the substrate by a layer-forming material. The particles cause protrusions on the layer and so produce the haptically perceptible texture. The substrate is also provided, at least partially, with at least one additional layer.

Aim of the present invention is to obtain cementitious products having smooth, planar surfaces and low thickness for applications having aesthetic purpose, of integrated architecture or as substrates, for example for a thin-film photovoltaic unit, with controlled curling and surface roughness, manufactured by mold casting of a fluid composition comprising: I. a hydraulic binder; II. one or more aggregates; III. an anti-shrinkage agent; IV. a superplasticizer agent; V. water, wherein the percentage by weight of said hydraulic binder in the composition is lower than that of said aggregates, and wherein said aggregates have a maximum diameter d.sub.max not greater than one third of the thickness of the product, the final product thus having an arithmetic mean surface roughness Ra not greater than 500 nm and curling not greater than 1500 micron.

The object of the present invention is to provide a white polyester film for a solar cell that is excellent in transfer-mark concealment properties (properties that transferred irregularities are hard to be seen) while having high whiteness, and exhibiting good light resistance and hydrolysis resistance, a sealing sheet for a back surface of a solar cell and a solar cell module using the same. The white polyester film for a solar cell of the present invention has whiteness of 50 or more, an average reflectance of 50 to 95% in a range of wavelength of 400 to 800 nm, an acid value of 1 to 50 eq/ton, and a thickness of 30 to 380 m, and the film has a multilayer structure in which a polyester resin layer containing inorganic fine particles in an amount of 10 to 38% by mass is disposed as at least one outermost layer, and a half-value width of protrusion distribution on a surface of the polyester resin layer is 200 to 1000 nm, the protrusion distribution being obtained by plotting the number density of protrusions with respect to protrusion height.

The present invention provides a hydrophilic film that causes a liquid to diffuse rapidly in a single direction. The hydrophilic film comprises a substrate having a texture of parallel sunken and raised patterns, and a hydrophilic coat comprising a coat of silicon dioxide particles. The present invention also provides a method for preparing the hydrophilic film. The method comprises: preparing an aqueous dispersion of silicon dioxide particles, wherein the average size of the silicon dioxide particles is 1 to 60 nm, and the concentration of the silicon dioxide particles is 0.05% to 15% by weight; coating the aqueous dispersion of silicon dioxide particles on a substrate, wherein the substrate has a texture of parallel sunken and raised patterns; and drying the substrate coated with the aqueous dispersion of silicon dioxide particles.

A cover glass of the present invention for photoelectric conversion devices includes a glass sheet having surface asperities and a reflection-reducing film formed over the surface asperities of the glass sheet. The surface asperities of the glass sheet have an average spacing Sm of 0.3 mm or more and 2.5 mm or less and an arithmetic average roughness Ra of 0.3 m to 5 m. The reflection-reducing film includes fine silica particles having an average particle diameter of 50 to 200 nm and a binder for the fine silica particles, and the fine silica particles are uniformly arranged in a single layer on peak portions of the surface asperities in such a manner that a filling fraction F is 35 to 65%. A transmittance gain is 2.37% or more, the transmittance gain being obtained by subtracting an average transmittance of the glass sheet as measured when light having wavelengths ranging from 380 to 1100 nm are incident on a face of the glass sheet that has the surface asperities, from an average transmittance of the cover glass as measured when light having the wavelengths are incident on a reflection-reducing film side of the cover glass. Thus, a cover glass for photoelectric conversion devices that exhibits a high transmittance gain is provided.

Microstructured, irregular surfaces pose special challenges but coatings of the invention can uniformly coat irregular and microstructured surfaces with one or more thin layers of phosphor. Preferred embodiment coatings are used in microcavity plasma devices and the substrate is, for example, a device electrode with a patterned and microstructured dielectric surface. A method for forming a thin encapsulated phosphor coating of the invention applies a uniform paste of metal or polymer layer to the substrate. In another embodiment, a low temperature melting point metal is deposited on the substrate. Polymer particles are deposited on a metal layer, or a mixture of a phosphor particles and a solvent are deposited onto the uniform glass, metal or polymer layer. Sequential soft and hard baking with temperatures controlled to drive off the solvent will then soften or melt the lowest melting point constituents of the glass, metal or polymer layer, partially or fully embed the phosphor particles into glass, polymer, or metal layers, which partially or fully encapsulate the phosphor particles and/or serve to anchor the particles to a surface.

A silicon nitride substrate including a phase encompassed of silicon nitride particles, and intergranular phase formed from a sintering aid, wherein a separation layer is formed on the surface of a molded body including silicon nitride powder, sintering aid powder, and organic binder, by using a boron nitride paste containing boron nitride powder, organic binder, and organic solvent; the separation layer and molded body are heated; the organic binder is removed from the separation layer and molded body; subsequently molded bodies stacked with a separation layer therebetween, are sintered. Boron nitride paste contains 0.01 to 0.50% by oxygen mass and 0.001 to 0.5% by carbon mass, and c/a is within range of 0.02 to 10.00, where c is oxygen content in the powder of the boron nitride paste, and a carbon content in the degreased separation layer, which includes 0.2 to 3.5 mg/cm.sup.2 of hexagonal boron nitride powder.

A roofing product has a substrate having a binder layer and roofing granules on a majority of the binder layer, such that an exposed portion of the binder layer does not have the roofing granules. In addition, particles may be located on the exposed portion of the binder layer. The particles are smaller in size than the roofing granules, and the reflective particles have a solar reflectance of greater than 10%.