Synthesis and material properties of Cu-III-VI2 chalcopyrite thin films

Thin films of CuInSe2 have been fabricated by thermal annealing of evaporated elemental layers of Cu, In and Se onto Si ( 1 0 0) and Corning glass 7059 substrates at room temperature. Structural, optical and electrical properties of the layers were studied. X-ray diffraction revealed that the film was single phase with chalcopyrite structure and preferred orientation along the ( 1 1 2) plane. The temperature dependence of electrical conductivity exhibited two activation energies and the optical studies showed that the absorption coefficient of this film was above 3 x 104 cm(-1) and the band gap was found to be 0.98 eV.