Formation of CuInSe2 thin films by H2Se/Ar treatment of thermally evaporated metallic precursors from a single crucible

In this study, CulnSe(2) thin films were prepared by a relatively simple and reproducible two-stage growth technique. During the precursor formation step predetermined quantities of Cu and In were thermally evaporated from a single crucible in a Se vapour, atmosphere. These low temperature prepared precursor films were subsequently reacted with a controlled H2Sc/Ar atmosphere in order to produce fully reacted compound films. From a systematic investigation of the material properties of the films as function of H2Se/Ar reaction temperature, we were able to determine optimum growth parameters. Single-phase material with uniform surface morphologies and a relatively high degree of in-depth compositional uniformity was produced by this relatively simple and fast growth technique. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) K alpha(1.2) measurements revealed no compositional changes after the high temperature selenization stages. This observation confirmed that the generally reported material losses from these classes of materials are prevented and that the final composition of the compound films is controlled simply by the initial material masses selected during the precursor formation stage.