Growth of N type CuInS2 microspheres on P type CuInS2 seed layer prepared using facile low cost chemical methods

Abstract

Sparse CuInS2 (CIS) microspheres were grown on CIS seed layer by a wet-chemical approach in which the nuclei layer was prepared by the chemical spray pyrolysis technique. Both layers have been found to be polycrystalline in nature and possess body centered tetragonal crystal structure. SEM and AFM analyses reveal that the CIS seed layer consists of high dense nanoparticles with the thickness of 0.97μm and the average diameter of the as-grown microspheres is ∼2.1μm. CIS microspheres may degrade the Cu–Au phase and improve the chalcopyrite phase in CIS film. The electrical properties of prepared films change tremendously, switching from low conductive (0.378Scm−1) hole dominated P-type (CIS seed layer) to high conductive (7.324Scm−1) electron dominated N-type (CIS microspheres). The results demonstrated that CIS microspheres exhibited good morphological and electrical properties and might have potential applications in photovoltaic technology.