Photoluminescence study of potential fluctuations in thin layers of Cu(In0.75Ga0.25)(SySe1-y)2

Thin layers of the pentenary material Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se)(2) (CIGSSe) are studied using photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The layers were produced by a two-stage deposition process, which produces thin chalcopyrite films with a high degree of compositional uniformity throughout the thickness of the layer. It is shown that potential fluctuations, caused by compensation and high concentrations of defects, dominate the PL behavior of the investigated layers. This is inferred from a number of PL studies such as variable temperature and excitation power measurements. It is deduced that the average amplitude of fluctuations increases with increasing sulfur mole fraction S/(Se+S). Thus, sulfur incorporation increases the degree of compensation (and hence the charged defect concentration). From the strong asymmetry and the observed weak shift of the low energy tails in the PL spectra with increasing sulfur content, it is also concluded that a significant fraction of defect states associated with the quaternary CIGSSe is still present in the pentenary layers. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.