Crystallization and surface segregation in CuIn0.7Ga0.3Se2 thin films on Cu foils grown by pulsed laser deposition

✍ Scribed by Yeon Hwa Jo; Bhaskar Chandra Mohanty; Yong Soo Cho

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 823 KB
• Volume: 256
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0169-4332
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2010.02.091

✦ Synopsis

This work reports unexpected crystallization and segregation behavior of CuIn 0.7 Ga 0.3 Se 2 (CIGS) thin films deposited on flexible Cu foils by pulsed laser deposition. A composite-type microstructure containing nanometer-scaled CIGS crystallites embedded in amorphous Cu-rich matrix is observed even at the high temperature of 500 • C. The findings are attributed to very fast condensation of the ablated species and random nucleation induced from the amorphous matrix. Cu-rich particulates tend to precipitate on the film surface, and their average size, shape, number density and composition exhibit a strong dependence on the substrate temperature up to 500 • C. The similar crystallization properties of the films on Cu foils and glass substrates are noticeable to the use of Cu foils for flexible solar cells.