A Study on the Electrochemical Synthesis and Characterization of CuInSe_2

摘要

Solar cells based on Cu(In,Ga)Se_2 alloys as the absorber layer continue to attract attention in research and industry. In orderto reduce production costs, several deposition techniques have been employed, one of which is the electrochemical way.The paper reports on the synthesis in a single bath of low cost electrochemically thin films of the ternary semiconductorcompound CuInSe2 without the need to post-annealing treatments. We have studied the optimal parameters required forthe electrodeposition of thin films on both molybdenum-coated glass (Mo) and silicon wafer substrates (Si). Metals salts ofCuCl_2, InCl_3 and SeCl_4 without added complexing agent were used to prepare close to stoichiometric composition of thechalcopyrite compound CuInSe_2. Thin films were electrodeposited at two imposed potentials − 0.4 and − 1 V/SCE. In additionto the electrochemical characterization methods, we have characterized our films using the X-ray diffraction technique(XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results indicate that the best filmsin terms of elemental composition, structure, crystallite size and morphology have been obtained with the imposed potentialof − 1 V/SCE.