A new procedure to prepare semiconducting ternary compounds from binary buffer materials and vacuum-deposited copper for photovoltaic applications

This paper reports the successful deposition of CuIn5S8 and Cu2SnS3 thin films obtained on Pyrex glass substrates using annealing in a sulfur atmosphere at 550 °C during evaporation of copper on In2S3 and SnS2 sprayed thin films, respectively. The CuIn5S8 and Cu2SnS3 thin films crystallize in cubic structures. Under suitable experimental conditions, this procedure, using the mobility of copper and silver elements, can be used to prepare many ternary absorber layers from binary buffer materials.