Phase formation and control of morphology in sputtered Cu–In alloy layers

The dependence of structural properties and surface morphology of Cu–In alloy layers on the composition and sputtering deposition sequence were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The properties of the co-sputtered alloy layers changed abruptly around the composition boundary when the Cu/In ratio reached 1/2. This can be explained by the effective heat of formation (EHF) model, which has been used to predict the sequence of phase formation for metal diffusion couples. The use of a co-sputtered alloy layer with a high In concentration was not suitable for fabricating solar cells, because the film had a very rough morphology due to large In islands formed on the CuIn2 phase. However, it was possible to minimize this phase by In sputtering followed by co-sputtering with a Cu/In ratio of 1 (Cu–In/In/Glass). This permitted the fabrication of a homogeneous Cu–In alloy layer, which was not possible through the simple co-sputtering.