Cu-dependent phase transition in polycrystalline CuGaSe2 thin films grown by three-stage process

Abstract

The Cu-dependent phase transition in polycrystalline CuGaSe2 thin films has been studied by an electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) and the synchrotron x-ray diffraction method. A Cu-deficiency parameter, Z, defined as (1 − Cu/Ga) was used to study the phase transition. Upon increasing the Z-value, the composition of the films on the Cu2Se-Ga2Se3 pseudo binary tie line was found to shift from the stoichiometric CuGaSe2 (1:1:2) (Z = 0) to the Ga-rich composition through the formation of several ordered defect compounds.The structural modification in the Cu-poor CuGaSe2 film has been investigated by the synchrotron x-ray diffraction method. The existence of the Cu-poor surface phase over the near-stoichiometric bulk CuGaSe2 film was confirmed by the fitting of the accelerated voltage dependent EPMA data.