Quasi-epitaxial growth of thick CuInS2 films by RF reactive sputtering with a thin epilayer buffer

We demonstrate the deposition of CuInS2 films on single-crystalline (0001)-sapphire by radio frequency reactive sputtering with a Cu-In alloy target and H2S gas. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed that the as-sputtered films are of mainly (112)oriented CuInS2 incorporating a minor Culn, phase. XRD rocking curve of CuInS2 (112) showed a full width at half maximum of 0.1degrees, indicating an epitaxial-like growth of (112)-CuInS2 films on (0001)-sapphire. Six peaks dominantly show up in the XRD phi-20 map, between which there are additional regular modulations present, suggesting a multi-domain structure of the thick double-layered films. Furthermore, the morphology and internal microstructure of the quasi-epitaxially sputtered CuInS2 films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.