CuInS₂ Films for Photovoltaic Applications Deposited by a Low-Cost Method

Abstract

We report an atmospheric-pressure deposition method for preparing well-adhered and compact CuInS 2 films. The precursor film is obtained by a solution-coating technique and is subjected to a low-cost and safe one-step reduction-sulfurization treatment. A maximum thickness of 300 nm is achieved per layer, and up to three layers were sulfurized at a time. The obtained films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and visiblenear-infrared (vis-NIR) spectrophotometry.

Facile solution-controlled growth of CuInS2 thin films on FTO and TiO2/FTO glass substrates for photovoltaic application

“…The top right part of Fig. 5 shows the Cu/In atomic ratios of the samples C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5, indicating that as the Cu/In atomic ratio increases from 0.90 to 1.15, the band-gap energy of the films decreases from 1.61 eV to 1.45 eV, which is in agreement with the result reported by other authors [23]. Heat-treatment in argon atmosphere at 300 • C for 1 h is shown to beneficially affect the crystalline structures and optical properties of CuInS 2 films, which were determined by XRD, UV-vis, and SEM images.…”

Influence of treatment conditions on chalcopyrite films deposited at atmospheric pressure

“…In previous works we described a soft-chemistry route for in situ synthesis of compact nanoparticulate CuInO x films which were successfully converted to CuInS 2 through a relatively safe and environmentally friendly treatment yielding films with adequate morphology and optical properties for photovoltaic applications [8,9]. Single phase layers with band gap of 1.48 eV were obtained.…”

Preparation of high quality Ag film from Ag nanoparticles

“…200 nm. It is about an order of magnitude bigger than the average particles size calculated from XRD (discussed below), which may be attributed to aggregation of silver nanoparticles [11]. Fig.…”