JP2002227000A - Electrode for electrolytic etching, electrolytic etching method, method for manufacturing photovoltaic element, and method for manufacturing electrode - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [PROBLEMS] To provide an electrode capable of performing highly accurate patterning on an object to be etched by short-time processing in an electrolytic solution. SOLUTION: A first electrode member 101 for dissolving an object to be etched by an electrochemical reaction and a second electrode member 103 for suppressing diffusion of an etching region by the first electrode member 101 are provided. The first electrode member 101
And / or having an insulating member 102 formed on the second electrode member 103 by lamination or coating.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrode suitably used for electrolytic etching in which an object to be etched is dissolved by utilizing an electrochemical reaction, a method of manufacturing the same, an electrolytic etching method using the same, and more particularly, The present invention relates to a counter electrode for performing partial etching or pattern etching using an electrolytic reaction, a method for manufacturing the same, and an electrolytic etching method using the same. Further, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a photovoltaic element using such an electrolytic etching method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method for etching a metal film or a transparent conductive film, a chemical etching method as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-108779 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,530 is known. First, a positive pattern is formed on the transparent conductive film by silk screen printing or photoresist, and then the transparent conductive film corresponding to the exposed portion (negative portion) is formed with an etching solution such as a ferric chloride solution or nitric acid. This is a method of etching by processing.

As a method of performing partial etching or patterning using an electrolytic reaction, a resist is applied to an object to be etched, and a pretreatment of obtaining a pattern after exposure and curing is performed, followed by electrolytic etching. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-290900 discloses that a resist pattern is closely adhered to a conductive film, and the resist pattern is immersed in an aqueous hydrochloric acid solution.
A method is disclosed in which a portion where a resist is not formed is patterned by applying a current, and then the resist is peeled off to complete the etching. In this method, as shown in FIG. 11, an object 1107 on which a desired pattern is formed is used as one electrode, and
An electrolytic treatment is performed in an electrolytic solution 1105 by using 106 as a counter electrode. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 1100 denotes an electrolytic etching apparatus, 1104 denotes an electrolytic etching tank, 1101 denotes a power supply, 1102 denotes a switching mechanism, and 1103 denotes a timer.

Further, as a method of not performing a process of providing a resist pattern on an object to be etched (pre-processing), a probe electrode is inserted into a capillary having an opening at a tip, and a peripheral surface of the opening and a working electrode are connected to each other. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-93300 discloses a method in which a small gap is provided between the surface of an object to be processed (object to be etched) as a working electrode and an electrolytic solution is caused to flow through the opening. .

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional method has the following problems.

That is, in the chemical etching method disclosed in JP-A-55-108779 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,530, it is necessary to apply a process such as coating and peeling of a resist to an object to be etched. is there. Therefore, the process becomes complicated and the processing cost increases. Further, in such a chemical etching method, a long processing time is required depending on the type of an object to be etched due to a problem of a reaction rate. Furthermore, since non-contact processing cannot be performed, there has been a problem that the production yield is reduced.

In the method utilizing an electrolytic reaction disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-290900, non-contact processing is possible during electrolysis, but resist coating (pre-processing) and resist stripping (post-processing) are required. It was necessary, and such pre-treatment and post-treatment could not be completely non-contact treatment. Therefore, there is a problem that the processing cost cannot be reduced, many steps are required, and the production yield is reduced.

[0008] Furthermore, in the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-93300 that does not perform pre-processing, it is possible to perform non-contact processing without performing pre-processing. However, since it is a pinpoint etching technique, There is a problem that pattern control is difficult due to the spread of the etchant in the plane direction. In addition, in order to apply such a method to patterning in a wide range, there are problems such as sagging of an edge portion and a long processing time.

As a solution to this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-158900 discloses an electrode for electrolytic etching which has been subjected to insulation treatment.

The electrolytic etching electrode described in the publication has the advantage that a wide range of patterning can be performed with high accuracy. However, to further increase accuracy,
An electrode configuration for improving the adhesion between the electrode and the insulating material and preventing gas generation on an exposed surface unnecessary for electrolysis and a method for manufacturing the electrode are desired.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an electrode suitable for electrolytic etching, which enables patterning by non-contact processing without performing pre-processing, and reduces mechanical damage to an object to be etched, and a method of manufacturing the electrode. And an electrolytic etching method using the same. Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrode capable of performing highly accurate patterning on an object to be etched by a short-time treatment in an electrolytic solution, a method for manufacturing the same, and an electrolytic etching method using the same. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a photovoltaic element using such an electrolytic etching method.

[0012]

The configuration of the present invention made to achieve the above object is as follows.

That is, the electrode for electrolytic etching of the present invention suppresses the diffusion of the etching region by the first electrode member for dissolving the object to be etched by an electrochemical reaction. And an insulating member formed by laminating or coating the first electrode member and / or the second electrode member.

[0014] The electrode for electrolytic etching of the present invention has a further feature that "the second electrode member is provided at predetermined intervals on both sides of the first electrode member so as to sandwich the first electrode member. And that the distance between the first electrode member and the second electrode member is 0.01 mm to 2.
0 mm "," the insulating member is disposed between the first electrode member and the second electrode member ",
"The insulating member is any one of an epoxy resin, a phenol resin, a polyimide resin, a BT resin, a fluorine resin, a silicon resin, a vinyl chloride, a polyester resin, and an EVA resin.
A resin material composed of at least one kind of silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, calcium carbonate, titanium oxide, glass fiber, and a nonwoven fabric, and a composite material of the resin material ”and“ necessary for the electrolytic reaction ”. Only the surface is exposed the electrode surfaces of the first and second electrode members ",
"The first electrode member is made of one of platinum, gold, carbon, stainless steel, copper, and lead, or an alloy of two or more of these," and "the first electrode member has an independent potential. Having a plurality of independent electrodes that can be provided. "

Further, according to the present invention, an electrode and an object to be etched are immersed in an electrolytic solution, and an electric current is passed between the electrode and the object to be etched to dissolve at least a part of the object to be etched. In the etching method, the electrode for electrolytic etching of the present invention is used as the electrode, and preferably, the first electrode member and the second electrode member of the electrode for electrolytic etching have polarities. Characterized in that they are used as different electrodes.

According to the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a photovoltaic device having at least a semiconductor layer and a conductive layer, comprising the step of patterning the conductive layer by the above-described electrolytic etching method of the present invention. Things.

Further, the method for manufacturing an electrode according to the present invention comprises the steps of laminating or coating a first member made of a metal with an insulating member to form an integrated body composed of the first member and the insulating member; A step of removing at least a part of the insulating member from the object to expose a metal surface, and a step of sandwiching the integrated object with a second member made of metal, preferably A step of patterning the first member before the step of forming the integrated member, and a step of exposing the metal surface so as not to separate the first member. Wherein the first member is separated into a plurality of portions.

According to the present invention, it is possible to pattern an object to be etched by a non-contact process without performing a pretreatment, thereby reducing mechanical damage to the object to be etched. Can be. In addition, the electrode for electrolytic etching, which can form a more complicated pattern than before, can be manufactured with high accuracy by assembling more simplified than before, and more precise patterning can be performed on the object to be etched, The reliability of the etching process can be greatly improved.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1A is a schematic schematic sectional view showing an example of an electrode according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a schematic schematic perspective view thereof. The electrode 100 is configured by arranging a second electrode member 103 so as to sandwich the first electrode member 101. An insulating member 10 is provided between the first electrode member 101 and the second electrode member 103.
2 are arranged.

The first electrode member 101 is an electrode for dissolving an object to be etched by an electrochemical reaction, and the second electrode member 103 is for suppressing diffusion of the etching region by the first electrode member 101. Electrodes.

The surface (lower surface in FIG. 1) necessary for the electrolytic reaction of the electrode 100 of this embodiment forms one plane (or a plane regarded as substantially one plane). I have. In other words, the first electrode member 10 of the electrode 100
The lower surfaces of the first and second electrode members 103 and the insulating member 102 are substantially coplanar. By doing so, the etching accuracy is improved. Where "substantially"
This means that some unevenness is acceptable, and a preferable unevenness range is within 500 μm. In addition,
By improving the accuracy of the unevenness, the etching accuracy can be further improved.

For the first electrode member 101 and the second electrode member 103, a conductive material such as a metal material can be used. Specifically, platinum, gold, carbon, stainless steel,
Copper, lead, or an alloy thereof can be used. In particular, platinum (Pt), gold (Au), and carbon (C) are preferably used because they are chemically stable and can be easily processed into a desired pattern.

The insulating member 102 can be made of a material that does not cause absorption of the electrolytic solution and deformation accompanying the electrolytic solution.
Epoxy resin, phenol resin, polyimide resin, BT
Resin material made of any one or more of resin, fluorine resin, silicon resin, vinyl chloride, polyester resin, EVA resin, etc., or any one of silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, calcium carbonate, titanium oxide, glass fiber, and nonwoven fabric A composite material of the above type and the above resin material is exemplified. Particularly, epoxy resin, phenol resin, silicon resin, fluorine resin and the like are preferably used from the viewpoint of durability.

The main feature of the electrode 100 of this embodiment is that the insulating member 102 is formed by a laminating method or a coating method. The insulating member 102 is made of, for example, an electrically insulating material having a desired thickness.
Alternatively, it can be formed by laminating or coating the second electrode member 103. in this case,
In the laminating method, a material containing glass fiber such as an epoxy resin or a phenol resin is suitably used, and a vacuum laminating method or a roll lamination is used with high reliability. In the coating method, fluorine resin, polyimide resin and epoxy resin are dipped, spin-coated,
The thickness can be accurately controlled by using the CVD method. If the thickness is about 20 μm, the fluorine resin dipping method is used with high reliability.

In the laminating method or the coating method, a uniform film can be formed in a thin layer having a thickness of 10 μm or more and 1 μm unit, and its long-term reliability can be improved and the line accuracy of electrolytic etching can be controlled.

In these laminating methods and coating methods, unnecessary electrolytic reactions can be removed by removing only the surface necessary for the electrolytic reaction after coating or laminating.
More reliable.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing another example of the electrode according to the present invention. In this electrode 200, a second electrode member 203 is arranged so as to sandwich the first electrode member 201, and an insulating member 202 is arranged between them.

The first electrode member 201 of this embodiment has three independent electrodes 201a and 201a to which independent potentials can be given.
01b and 201c. Before the first electrode member 201 is insulated, for example, a slit necessary for separating each of the independent electrodes is formed in the electrode member, and the first electrode member 201 is fixed at an interval necessary for preventing mutual drop-off and ensuring positional accuracy.
Alternatively, by performing insulation treatment in a state of being connected in a bridge shape, the slit portion is filled with an insulating material and molded, and then an electrode portion on a surface necessary for an electrolytic reaction is exposed. The details will be described later in Examples.

In the present invention, the size and shape of the first electrode member and the second electrode member are preferably designed according to the required size and shape of the etching region. Thus, not only a linear pattern but also a complicated patterning such as a curve or a combination of a straight line and a curve can be performed. At this time, by patterning the shape of the first electrode member for dissolving the object to be etched by an electrochemical reaction into the same shape as the required shape of the etching region, a patterning step using a resist is unnecessary. Become.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the electrode member of the first electrode and the second electrode member are electrodes having different polarities. This makes it possible to control the width and depth of the patterning.

Further, in the present invention, the distance between the first electrode member and the second electrode member is set to 0.01 mm or more and 2.0 mm or more.
mm or less. Thereby, patterning of a minute region such as a thin line becomes possible.

In the present invention, a substrate having a transparent conductive film or a metal film can be suitably used as an object to be etched. Accordingly, the present invention provides a self-luminous element (light emitting element) such as a photovoltaic element such as a solar cell or a sensor, a photosensitive device or an EL element, or a transmissive or reflective element such as a liquid crystal element or an electrochromic element. It can be applied to the manufacture of various elements and devices. In particular, by using the method for manufacturing a photovoltaic element according to the present invention, it is possible to manufacture a photovoltaic element having high appearance, characteristics, and reliability.

[0034]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Example 1 In this example, an electrode as shown in FIG. 2 was manufactured.

Using platinum for the first electrode member, prepreg material for the insulating member, and SUS304 for the second electrode member, FIG.
In the procedure shown in (a) to (d), the first electrode member is subjected to vacuum lamination with a prepreg of an insulating member to cut off a bridge portion and unnecessary portions, and to integrate the first electrode member and the insulating member. I made things.

FIG. 3A shows a processed shape before lamination of platinum as a first electrode member. Reference numeral 301 denotes a platinum member, and a white portion 302 denotes a slit-processed portion.

FIG. 3B shows a state after vacuum lamination with a prepreg material.
Reference numeral 304 denotes a laminated platinum member. At this time, the slit 302 opened in the platinum member 301 is filled with a prepreg material (resin material). However, if a large hole is provided in the platinum member 301 instead of a slit, the thickness after lamination can be suppressed by laminating the glass member after filling it to some extent with glass epoxy or the like.

FIG. 3C is a diagram showing a state in which a portion that has been a bridge and other unnecessary portions have been removed. 305 is a bridge portion, 306 is another unnecessary resin portion, and 307 is an integrated member of a first electrode member having three independent electrodes and an insulating member.

FIG. 3D is a diagram showing an integrated body of the first electrode member and the insulating member.

As described above, the first electrode member made of platinum is laminated with the insulating member to form an integrated member including the first electrode member and the insulating member, and a part of the insulating member is removed from the integrated member. To expose the desired platinum surface.

The second electrode member was coated with fluorine (laden treatment). After that, an integrated body of the first electrode member and the insulating member (FIG. 3D) is sandwiched between the second electrode members, and the electrode surface is polished by tightening the bolts and nuts to form an electrode as shown in FIG. Obtained.

The accuracy after lamination of the integrated body of the first electrode member and the insulating member was measured with a micro gauge.
mm, minus 0.005 mm processing was possible.

[0044]

[Table 1]

In addition, when the fluorine resin coating on the second electrode member side was similarly measured, as shown in Table 2, the coating was possible at ± 0.002 mm with respect to the target value of 0.02 mm.

[0046]

[Table 2]

The accuracy of the width of the insulating member / first electrode member / insulating member that determines the line accuracy is as follows: the accuracy of the portions A and B shown in FIG. 4 is 1.2 mm in the conventional method (the method of bonding each member). Although fabrication at ± 0.1 mm was not possible, fabrication accuracy of 1.2 mm ± 0.05 mm was possible using the method of the present invention. In this study, the coating accuracy was 0.02
mm ± 0.002 mm, but control of ± 0.001 mm is also possible by using a film forming method such as CVD or a spin coating method.

(Embodiment 2) In the same manner as in Embodiment 1, FIG.
Was manufactured, and ITO on the photovoltaic element was etched using the experimental system shown in FIG.

FIG. 5A shows the whole electrode. Also 500
FIG. 5 shows the most characteristic part of the electrode of this embodiment.
(B) is a detailed view of that part. Reference numeral 503 denotes a second electrode member that has been subjected to the dent treatment, 501 denotes a first electrode member that has been laminated, and 502 denotes a lamination material that is an insulator.

In FIG. 6, 600 is an electrolytic etching apparatus, 601 is a power supply, 602 is a switch, 603 is a timer, 604 is an electrolytic etching tank, 605 is an electrolytic solution, 60
Reference numeral 6 denotes a photovoltaic element on which an ITO film is formed, and reference numeral 607 denotes an etching electrode of FIG.

In order to make a comparison with the conventional electrode, electrolytic etching was performed 10,000 times using the conventional electrolytic etching electrode and the electrolytic etching electrode of this embodiment, and the defect rate of the unetched portion due to bubbles was compared. The defective etching rate using the conventional electrolytic etching electrode was 0.6%, whereas the defective etching rate using the electrolytic etching electrode of the present invention was 0.02%. This result indicates that unnecessary portions of the electrodes were not laminated or coated, so that unnecessary gas reactions did not occur, and the occurrence of unetched portions due to bubbles was suppressed.

(Example 3) The first electrode member was processed using platinum as shown in FIG. 7 (a), laminated with a prepreg (FIG. 7 (b)), and the bridge portions were removed to remove a plurality of parts. A first electrode member having electrically independent independent electrodes was manufactured (FIG. 7C), and an electrode for electrolytic etching having the shape shown in FIG. 8 was manufactured using SUS304 as the second electrode member.

FIG. 7A is a view showing a state after platinum processing.
Reference numeral 701 denotes platinum, and reference numeral 702 denotes a portion subjected to slit processing. FIG. 7B is a view after lamination, 703 is a laminated platinum, 704 is a prepreg of a lamination material, and 705 is a portion in which a slit processing portion is filled with a lamination material. FIG.
(C) is a view in which the bridge portion is separated, where 706 is a bridge portion, and 707 is a portion of a first electrode member having six electrically independent electrodes. FIG. 7D is a diagram in which a first electrode member having six electrically independent electrodes and an insulator are integrated.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the electrode for electrolytic etching showing the electrode surface related to the electrolytic reaction on the upper surface.
Reference numeral 06 denotes an electrically independent independent electrode constituting the first electrode member, reference numeral 807 denotes an insulating prepreg integrated with the first electrode, and reference numeral 808 denotes a second electrode coated with a fluorine resin. In the electrode for electrolytic etching of FIG. 8, the surface to be the electrode surface related to the electrolytic reaction is used to remove the insulator by grinding. Sealed with sealant material.

Next, electrolytic etching was performed using the above-mentioned electrode for etching as an ITO on a photovoltaic element in an experimental system shown in FIG.

In FIG. 9, 901 is a power supply, 902 is a switch,
Reference numeral 903 denotes a timer, 904 denotes a switch for determining an energized portion, 905 denotes an electrolytic etching tank, 906 denotes an etching electrode in FIG. 8, 907 denotes a photovoltaic element on which an ITO film is formed, 908 denotes an electrolytic etching solution, and 900 denotes It is an electrolytic etching apparatus.

A current was applied to each of the independent electrodes 801 to 806 in FIG. 8 to perform electrolytic etching, and a current was simultaneously applied to the whole to confirm the etching property. As shown in FIG. 10, good ITO etching was performed.

FIG. 10 (a) is a view from the electrode surface of FIG. 8, and FIGS. 10 (b) to 10 (g) show the respective independent electrodes 801 to 801.
The results of ITO etching when a current is applied alone from 806 are shown. The white portion of 1001 is the etched portion, and 1002 is the remaining portion of ITO. FIG. 10H shows the results when the independent electrodes 802 and 805 are energized simultaneously, and FIG. 10I shows the results when all the independent electrodes 801 to 806 are energized.

The etching area by the above-mentioned electrolytic etching conformed to the line width of the insulator of the electrode configuration / first electrode member / insulator.

[0060]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By performing the non-contact processing without performing the pre-processing, the etching target can be patterned, and mechanical damage to the etching target can be reduced. Further, an electrode for electrolytic etching capable of forming a more complicated pattern than before can be manufactured with high precision, and more accurate patterning can be performed on an object to be etched, thereby greatly improving the reliability of the etching process. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing one example of an electrode for electrolytic etching of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing another example of the electrode for electrolytic etching of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a method of manufacturing the electrode for electrolytic etching of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the accuracy of the width of the insulating member / first electrode member / insulating member of the electrode for electrolytic etching manufactured in Example 1.

FIG. 5 is a view showing an electrode for electrolytic etching manufactured in Example 2.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electrolytic etching apparatus used in Example 2.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating a method of manufacturing an electrode for electrolytic etching in Example 3.

FIG. 8 is a view showing an electrode for electrolytic etching manufactured in Example 3.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a schematic configuration of an electrolytic etching apparatus used in Example 3.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the result of electrolytic etching in Example 3.

FIG. 11 is a view for explaining a conventional electrolytic etching method.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 Electrode etching electrode 101, 201, 501 First electrode member 102, 202, 502 Insulating member 103, 203, 503 Second electrode member 201a, 201b, 201c Electrically independent independent electrode 301, 701 Platinum member 302 , 702 Slit portion 303, 704 Pre-preg 304, 703 Laminated platinum 305, 706 Bridge portion 306 Unnecessary resin portion 307 First electrode member having three independent electrodes 600 Electrolytic etching device 601 Power supply 602 Switch 603 Timer 604 Electrolytic etching bath 605 Electrolyte solution 606 Photovoltaic element 607 on which ITO is formed 607 Etching electrode 705 in FIG. 5 Part where slit processing portion is filled with lamination material 707 First electrodes 801 and 80 which are electrically independent , 803, 804, 805, 806 Independent electrodes 807 Insulator (laminated material) 808 Second electrode coated with fluorocarbon resin 900 Electrolytic etching device 901 Power supply 902 Switch 903 Timer 904 Switch 905 for determining energized part 905 Electrolytic etching tank 906 Etching electrode 907 Photovoltaic element with ITO film 908 Electrolytic etchant 1001 Etched portion 1002 ITO portion

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H05B 33/26 H01L 31/04 M

Claims (14)

[Claims] A first electrode member for dissolving an object to be etched by an electrochemical reaction, and a second electrode member for suppressing diffusion of an etching region by the first electrode member. An electrode for electrolytic etching, comprising an insulating member formed on the first electrode member and / or the second electrode member by a laminating or coating method. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second electrode member is arranged at predetermined intervals on both sides of said first electrode member so as to sandwich said first electrode member. 4. The electrode for electrolytic etching according to claim 1. 3. The electrode according to claim 2, wherein a distance between the first electrode member and the second electrode member is 0.01 mm to 2.0 mm. 4. The electrolytic etching device according to claim 1, wherein the insulating member is disposed between the first electrode member and the second electrode member. electrode. 5. The resin material according to claim 1, wherein the insulating member is made of one or more of an epoxy resin, a phenol resin, a polyimide resin, a BT resin, a fluorine resin, a silicon resin, vinyl chloride, a polyester resin, and an EVA resin. The electrolysis according to any one of claims 1 to 4, comprising a composite material of at least one of silicon, aluminum oxide, calcium carbonate, titanium oxide, glass fiber, and nonwoven fabric and the resin material. Electrode for etching. 6. The electrolytic etching method according to claim 1, wherein the electrode surfaces of the first and second electrode members are exposed only on a surface necessary for an electrolytic reaction. electrode. 7. The method according to claim 7, wherein the first electrode member is any one of platinum, gold, carbon, stainless steel, copper, and lead.
The electrode for electrolytic etching according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the electrode is made of at least one kind of alloy. 8. The electrolytic etching electrode according to claim 1, wherein the first electrode member has a plurality of independent electrodes to which independent potentials can be given. 9. An electrolytic etching method in which an electrode and an object to be etched are immersed in an electrolytic solution, and an electric current is passed between the electrode and the object to be etched to dissolve at least a part of the object to be etched. An electrolytic etching method using the electrode for electrolytic etching according to any one of claims 1 to 8 as the electrode. 10. The electrolytic etching method according to claim 9, wherein the first electrode member and the second electrode member of the electrode for electrolytic etching are used as electrodes having different polarities. 11. A method for manufacturing a photovoltaic device having at least a semiconductor layer and a conductive layer, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
3. A method for manufacturing a photovoltaic device, comprising a step of patterning the conductive layer by the electrolytic etching method described in 1. 12. A step of laminating or coating a first member made of a metal with an insulating member to form an integrated member comprising the first member and the insulating member, and at least a part of the insulating member from the integrated member. Removing the metal surface and exposing the metal body to a second member made of metal. 13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising a step of patterning the first member before the step of forming the integrated member. 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the patterning is performed so as not to separate the first member, and the first member is separated into a plurality of portions in a step of exposing the metal surface. The method for producing an electrode according to the above.