Abstract
CuIn2n+1 S3n+2 crystals were synthesized by horizontal Bridgman method using high purity copper, indium, sulfur elements. The phases and crystallographic structure of the CuIn2n+1S3n+2 crystals were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the composition of the material powders was determined using the energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Measurement data revealed that CuIn2n+1S3n+2 materials have not the same structure. In fact, CuInS2 and CuIn3S5 crystallize in the chalcopyrite structure whereas CuIn5S8, CuIn7S11 and CuIn11S17 crystallize in the cubic spinel structure.
Highlights
Developments of thin film solar cells based on CuInS2 and related alloys have made considerable progress in recent years
Many researchers tried to synthesize CuInS2 material by various methods because of its important properties, a new green synthesis is described by some authors without using any organic solvent [3], a new strategy has been presented to the controllable synthesis of CuInS2 hollow nanospheres based on the Cu2O solid nanospheres as the precursor in the absence of any surfactant [4], a facile and low-cost method was developed to prepare metastable wurtzite copper indium sulfide (CuInS2) nanocrystals under atmospheric conditions [5] and luminescent CuInS2 nanocrystals were synthesized in dodecanethiol precursors [6]
We have investigated the structural properties of CuIn2n+1S3n+2 powders synthesized by the horizontal Bridgman method
Summary
Developments of thin film solar cells based on CuInS2 and related alloys have made considerable progress in recent years. The materials do not contain any toxic elements such as Ga or Se, and this may have an advantage in comparison with other ternary materials like CuIn2n+1Se3n+2 and CuGa2n+1S3n+2 They belong to I-III2n+1-VI3n+2 ternary materials which are receiving a great deal of attention as candidate materials for visible-light and IR emitters, high-efficiency solar cells, and other semiconductor and quantum-electronic devices [2]. In order to understand the formation of ternary compounds with chemical formula CuIn2n+1S3n+2, their phase equilibrate can be discussed in terms of temperature or composition. This ternary diagram can be reduced in a pseudo-binary diagram along the interconnection line between Cu2S and In2S3 binary materials By combining these two compounds, we can obtain all materials belonging to the family with chemical formula. The bold points along the line connecting Cu2S and In2S3 represent these materials
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