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Effect of gallium proportion on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the CuIn1-xGaxSe2 compound

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Abstract

With their high absorption  coefficient, the CuIn1-xGaxSe2 chalcopyrite-structured compounds have a number of advantages in the race to produce large-scale, low-cost solar panels. In this perspective, CuIn1-xGaxSe2 ingots (x = 0.3, 0.4, 0.5) were prepared, and the influence of the proportion of gallium on the structural, optical, and electrical properties was studied. X-ray diffraction analyzes have shown that the obtained ingots are polycrystalline and possess a chalcopyrite structure. The preferred orientation along the plane (112) which is very suitable for photovoltaic conversion has been obtained. The main X-ray diffraction peaks showed changes in their diffraction angles that increased with increasing gallium proportion. The ratio “c/a” calculated from the lattice parameters “a,” and “c” was found close to two for all gallium proportions. Spectrophotometer analysis allowed us to observe the good absorption of the compound CuIn1-xGaxSe2, and the obtained results showed that the band gap width Eg increases with the increase in the proportion of gallium and was found to vary between 1.12 eV and 1.32 eV, with Eg = 1.26 eV for x = 0.4. Characterizations by Hall effect measurements showed that the produced ingots have a p-type conductivity. Also, a low resistivity of the order of 0.76 Ωcm was found for x = 0.4. The results obtained in the context of this work show that the prepared CuIn0.6Ga0.4Se2 compound exhibits the best optoelectronic properties.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Semiconductors, Department of Physics, University Badji Mokhtar, Annaba, Algeria

    Asma Khadraoui, Bouzid Hadjoudja, Souheyla Gagui, Naoual Houaidji, Baghdadi Chouial & Allaoua Chibani

  2. Department of Physics, Faculty of Material Sciences, University of Batna 1, Batna, Algeria

    Beddiaf Zaidi

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  1. Asma Khadraoui
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  2. Beddiaf Zaidi
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  3. Bouzid Hadjoudja
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  4. Souheyla Gagui
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Khadraoui, A., Zaidi, B., Hadjoudja, B. et al. Effect of gallium proportion on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the CuIn1-xGaxSe2 compound. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 123, 3329–3336 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-10421-x

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