Effect of post deposition annealing on the structure, morphology, optical and electrical properties of CuInGaSe2 thin films

Abstract Polycrystalline copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin film is a favourable candidate for solar cell applications. In the present work the effect of post-deposition annealing on the structure, surface morphology, optical and electrical properties are discussed. Initially, gallium rich CIG thin films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering followed by an indium rich CIG layer and subjected to selenization to realize CIGS stoichiometry. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed the polycrystalline nature of the films with chalcopyrite structure having preferential orientation along direction normal to the substrate. Optical properties of CIGS thin films were studied using UV–vis spectrophotometry and the band gap of CIGS was found to be around 1.15 eV. Hall Effect studies carried out on the CIGS thin films showed a linear dependence of conductivity with post deposition annealing. The elemental composition of the films was quantified using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the results are discussed.