Crystalline phases at the <i>p</i>- to <i>n</i>-type transition in Cu-ternary semiconducting films

Abstract

We report here a study of the Raman spectra of ternary Cu–In–S and Cu–In–Se polycrystalline film compounds as a function of the x=[In]/{Cu]+[In]} ratio. Using these spectra we were able to identify, with high resolution in x, the phases present in the films. We found that the single phase of chalcopyrite CnInSe2 exists over the fairly wide composition range of 0.48⩽x⩽0.55, and that the lattice disorder increases with the increase of In content. No such single phase range was found for the Cu–In–S films. Considering the electrical properties of these materials around x=0.5, it is concluded that the native defect model accounts for the electrical properties of the Cu–In–Se films but does not account simply for the electrical properties of the Cu–In–S films.