Tuning the structural, optical and electrical properties of AgInSe2 thin films prepared by sequentially deposited silver and indium nano-films under vacuum

Abstract

This paper reports the successful preparation of AgInSe2 thin films by thermal evaporation of Ag and In elements followed by a heat treatment in selenide atmosphere at various temperatures. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the annealed film at T = 400 °C is well crystallised in AgInSe2 chalcopyrite phase with crystallinity preferentially oriented towards (112) direction. Moreover, the annealing treatment has effective role in the enhancement of the surface morphology by means of atomic force microscopy observations especially for film heated at 400 °C. The optical transmittance and reflectance measurement reveals that the band gap energy Eg is 1.35 eV. The X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS) spectra show that the binding energies of the elements are in good agreement with bonds of AgInSe2. On the other hand, the electrical conductivity of AgInSe2 film prepared in the present experiment has been performed in 100–300 K domain showing a semiconductor behavior of this material. Also, the carrier concentration and carrier mobility have been measured by Hall measurements. This film can found interest for sensitivity applications including photocatalysis, gas and biosensors.