Preparation and characterization of Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S) ₂ films without selenization by co-sputtering from Cu(In,Ga)Se ₂ quaternary and In ₂ S ₃ targets

In this study, Cu(In,Ga)(Se,S) ₂ (CIGSS) thin films were deposited onto a bi-layer Mo coated soda-lime glass by co-sputtering a chalcopyrite Cu(In,Ga)Se ₂ (CIGS) quaternary alloy target and an In ₂ S ₃ binary target. A one-stage annealing process was performed to form CIGSS chalcopyrite phase without post-selenization. Experimental results show that CIGSS films were prepared by the proposed co-sputter process via CIGS (70 W by radio frequency) and In ₂ S ₃ (30 W by direct current) with a substrate temperature of 373 K, working pressure of 0.67 Pa, and one-stage annealing at 798 K for 30 min. The stoichiometry ratios of the CIGSS film were Cu/(In + Ga) = 0.92, Ga/(In + Ga) = 0.26, and Se/(S) = 0.49 that approached device-quality stoichiometry ratio (Cu/(In + Ga) < 0.95, Ga/(In + Ga) < 0.3, and (Se/S) ≈ 0.5). The resistivity of the sample was 14.8 Ω cm, with a carrier concentration of 3.4 × 10 ¹⁷ cm ^-3 and mobility of 1.2 cm ² V ^-1 s ^-1 . The resulting film exhibited p-type conductivity with a double graded band-gap structure.