Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 thin film preparation from a Cu(In,Ga) metallic alloy and se nanoparticles by an intense pulsed light technique

Abstract

The main contribution of this paper is the development of a novel process for the formation of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) films. CIGS films with a thickness of 4 μm and grain size from 0.3 μm to 1 μm were prepared from a Cu(In 0.7Ga 0.3) (CIG) metallic alloy and Se nanoparticles by the intense pulsed light (IPL) technique. The melting of the CIG and Se nanoparticles and nucleation of CIGS occurred in a very short reaction time of 2 ms. It is believed that the Se diffuses into the CIG lattice to form the CIGS chalcopyrite crystal structure. The tetragonal chalcopyrite crystal structure was confirmed by x-ray powder diffraction (XRD), while the microstructure and composition were determined by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDAX), and x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. © 2010 The Author(s).