Fabrication and characterization of thin films of CuIn(S,Se)2 quaternary compounds obtained by close-spaced vapor transport

Close-spaced vapor transport in a vertical closed tube has been used and successfully developed for growing large area CuInSe₂ thin films. This method has been applied also to different Cu(In,Ga)(Se,Te)₂ ternary compounds. In this paper we present results concerning CuInS_xSe_2-x with composition x varying from 0 to 2.00. The parameters of quasi-stoichiometric deposition are determined. We can obtain columnar grains of nearly 10 μm diameter, well oriented in the (112) direction. Deviations from these parameters induce the presence of copper iodide in the samples (source temperature below the optimal one) or the formation of (In,Se) compounds (source temperature above the optimal one)