Rapid treatment of CIGS particles by intense pulsed light

Intense pulsed light (IPL) technique has been proposed to make large grains Cu(In0.7Ga0.3)Se2 (CIGS) film using CIGS particles. The proposed process is non-vacuum based and performed at room temperature without selenization treatment. Melting and recrystallization of CIGS particles to larger grains without structural deformation and phase transformation are proved with adequate characterization evidences. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersion analysis (EDS) were used to characterize the prepared films. Melting of the CIGS particles and recrystallization to larger grains by light energy in 20 ms short reaction time could be the reason for no structural deformation and secondary phase generation during the process. The CIGS film prepared from its constituent nanoparticles by IPL treatment has great potential for use as absorber layer for solar cell application and is expected to have large impact on cell fabrication process in terms of cost reduction and simplified processing.