Synthesis and characterization of CuInS2 and CuInSe2 compounds by vacuum sintering method

We report herein synthesis and characterization of CuInS2 and CuInSe2 compounds by vacuum sintering method. In this study, the manual-milled and ball-milled precursors including copper, indium, and sulfur (selenium) elements were sintered under vacuum at different temperatures for synthesis of CuInS2 and CuInSe2 compounds, respectively. The crystal structure, morphology and Raman property of the sintered powder were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and Raman scattering spectroscopy, respectively. The results show that the structure of the products, which was sintered with the manual-milled and ball-milled precursors, were transformed into the single chalcopyrite phase CuInS2 powder at 923K and 623K, and the grain size are about 2 similar to 3 mu m and 250 nm, respectively. In addition, the CuInSe2 powder was synthesized about 723K via using the ball-milled powder including copper, indium, and selenium elements as the precursor.