TEM identification of secondary phases in non-stoichiometric polycrystalline CuInSe2 thin films
Polycrystalline thin films of CuInSe2 and CuGaSe2 are currently being developed as low-cost photovoltaic devices. These films are vacuum-deposited onto molybdenum metallized alumina substrates. The film composition may be varied by manipulation of the deposition parameters. For photovoltaic applications, the desired phase has a stoichiometry close to CuInSe2. This compound is a zincblende variant, the cations and anions occupying separate fcc sublattices. Under certain growth conditions, the Cu and In atoms adopt an ordered configuration within the cationic sublattice resulting in the tetragonal chalcopyrite structure. Even when the deposition parameters are manipulated to produce nominally stoichiometric films, powder x-ray traces often exhibit anomalous peaks indicative of the presence of impurity phases. The identification of these minority phases by x-ray diffraction alone is not possible in this materials system due to low peak intensity and overlap considerations. The formation of the secondary phases has a detrimental effect on the electrical and optical properties of the thin film device.