The growth of Cu thin films by low pressure chemical vapor deposition

We study the growth of Cu films en route to the production of CuInSe2 thin films as absorber layers in solar cells by a low pressure chemical vapor deposition technique. In order to obtain good quality films, the deposition conditions such as substrate, source temperatures, concentration ratio of Ar to H2 have been optimized. The surface morphology and structural analysis of Cu films have been carried out. It is revealed that annealing resulted in a change in the properties of the films and also in the generation of other phases such as γ-Cu5Si (cubic) and CuO (monoclinic). ©1999Kluwer Academic Publishers