Fabrication and characterization of vacuum evaporated Al:CuSe2 thin films

• Highlights Al dope Cu2Se thin films were deposited by vacuum evaporation method.
• The XRD result shows presence of orthorhombic structure of CuSe2.
• Additionally Al2Se3 phase was observed which confirms the incorporation of Al3+ into the CuSe2 lattice.
• EDAX analysis confirms the presence of Cu, Se and Al.
• Due to improved crystallinity the optical band decreased.

We present first report on Al doped CuSe2 thin films deposited on to the glass substrate using elemental precursors Cu, Al and Se by thermal evaporation method. The structural, morphological and optoelectronic properties of the grown films were analysed by using XRD, SEM, AFM, UV–Visible and I–V analysis respectively. The XRD study of the annealed film showed polycrystalline nature. The predominant orientation along (1 0 1) direction corresponding to orthorhombic structure of CuSe2 with an additional phase of Al2Se3 along (−3 1 4) and (3 3 1) direction. The SEM and AFM images of the annealed film bears densely packed grains and the surface roughness is found to be about 21.16 nm respectively. The direct band gap and resistivity is decreased in annealed film when compared to the as-deposited film. It could be attributed to the influence of annealing process.

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