Growth of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin films by a novel single-stage route based on pulsed electron deposition

We report a novel route for growing Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) thin films, based upon the Pulsed Electron Deposition (PED) technique. Unlike other well-known deposition techniques, PED process allows the stoichiometric deposition of CIGS layers in a single stage, without requiring any further treatments for Cu/(In + Ga) ratio adjustment nor selenization. The structural properties of polycrystalline CIGS films strongly depend on the growth temperature, whereas post-deposition annealing enhances the grain size and the <112> out-of-plane preferred orientation of the chalcopyrite structure, without affecting the film composition. Preliminary measurements of the performances of solar cells based on these films confirm the great potentiality of PED-grown CIGS as absorber layers.