Low-Temperature Deposition of CuIn(S_xSe_1-x)₂ Thin Films by Ionized Cluster Beam Technique

Abstract

We show that freely suspended liquid-crystal film have suitable properties for use as visible and infrared radiation sensors. The replacement of the polymer film in a Golay cell by a liquid-crystalline film results in the effective increase of the sensor response rate (100 times) without undue sacrifice of its sensitivity.

A mild solvothermal route to chalcopyrite quaternary semiconductor CuIn(SexS1 − x)2 nanocrystallites

“…6 In order to achieve a better match to the solar spectrum, it is necessary to prepare materials with a bandgap 0.2-0.4 eV wider than that of CuInSe 2 , which can be obtained by two routes: alloying with either CuGaSe 2 or CuInS 2 . 7 In this work, we chose the latter to synthesize CuIn(Se x S 12x ) 2 nanocrystallites.…”

The Effect of Acceleration Voltages on the Preparation of CuInSe2 Thin Films by Ionized Cluster Beam Technique

“…These ionization current conditions were determined from data in a previous report. 7) The pressure in the vacuum chamber was maintained at less than 1 × 10 −5 Torr during deposition. The typical film thickness obtained was approximately 2 µm for a deposition time of 120 min.…”

“…The details of ICB apparatus used in this study have appeared in previous reports. 6,7) The source materials employed were Cu, In and Se of 99.9999% purity which were ejected from Knudsen-type graphite crucibles. The source temperatures used to obtain Cu-rich films were 1350 • C, 950 • C and 380 • C for Cu, In and Se, respectively.…”

“…13) In our previous report, we showed that the KCN treatment was effective on the films prepared by the low-temperature ICB process as well as the films prepared by the high-temperature process. 7) We used an aqueous solution of 10% KCN and etching was performed for 3 min to remove Cu-Se secondary-phase compounds.…”

“…2) However, most of the deposition techniques, reported so far, require high processing temperatures above 500 • C in order to obtain high-quality films, 3) a procedure unsuited to use with inexpensive glass substrates. To lower the processing temperature, we have attempted to adopt techniques that use ions in the preparation of CuInSe 2 -based films; i.e., the ionized cluster beam (ICB) technique [4][5][6][7] and the ion plating technique. 8) In the ICB technique, [9][10][11] the effects of ionized beam bombardment the charge of ionized particles are utilized.…”