Abstract
Semiconducting indium sulfide (In2S3) has recently attracted considerable attention as a buffer material in the field of thin film photovoltaics. Compared with this growing interest, however, detailed characterizations of the crystal structure of this material are rather scarce and controversial. In order to close this gap, we have carried out a reinvestigation of the crystal structure of this material with an in situ X-ray diffraction study as a function of temperature using monochromatic synchrotron radiation. For the purpose of this study, high quality polycrystalline In2S3 material with nominally stoichiometric composition was synthesized at high temperatures. We found three modifications of In2S3 in the temperature range between 300 and 1300 K, with structural phase transitions at temperatures of 717 K and above 1049 K. By Rietveld refinement we extracted the crystal structure data and the temperature coefficients of the lattice constants for all three phases, including a high-temperature trigonal γ-In2S3 modification.
Highlights
In2S3 is a widegap semiconductor with high photoconductive and photoluminescent properties, which makes it a promising material for optoelectronic applications (Shazly et al, 1998)
Various reports on In2S3 buffer layers correlate deposition process parameters with crystallographic properties (Rao & Kumar, 2012; Larina et al, 2004; Yoosuf & Jayaraj, 2005) and with final solar cell device parameters (Naghavi et al, 2003; Pistor, Caballero et al, 2009)
In2S3 powder was prepared from the elements via a high-temperature route as described in x2.1
Summary
In2S3 is a widegap semiconductor with high photoconductive and photoluminescent properties, which makes it a promising material for optoelectronic applications (Shazly et al, 1998). Its potential application as a buffer layer in chalcopyrite solar cells has triggered an increased research effort in its fundamental materials properties (e.g. crystal structure, optical properties, electronic bandstructure etc.) as well as in deposition technology. Among the compatible deposition methods, atomic layer deposition (Naghavi et al, 2003), the ion layer gas reaction (ILGAR) method (Saez-Araoz et al, 2012), spray pyrolisis (John et al, 2005), sputtering (Hariskos et al, 2005) and evaporation (Strohm et al, 2005) have been successfully applied. Various reports on In2S3 buffer layers correlate deposition process parameters with crystallographic properties (Rao & Kumar, 2012; Larina et al, 2004; Yoosuf & Jayaraj, 2005) and with final solar cell device parameters (Naghavi et al, 2003; Pistor, Caballero et al, 2009)
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