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Grain‐size distributions and grain boundaries of chalcopyrite‐type thin films
Author(s) -
AbouRas D.,
Schorr S.,
Schock H. W.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s0021889807032220
Subject(s) - chalcopyrite , grain boundary , thin film , grain size , materials science , electron backscatter diffraction , thin section , crystallography , diffraction , mineralogy , optics , chemistry , metallurgy , nanotechnology , physics , copper , microstructure
CuInSe 2 , CuGaSe 2 , Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 and CuInS 2 thin‐film solar absorbers in completed solar cells were studied in cross section by means of electron‐backscatter diffraction. From the data acquired, grain‐size distributions were extracted, and also the most frequent grain boundaries were determined. The grain‐size distributions of all chalcopyrite‐type thin films studied can be described well by lognormal distribution functions. The most frequent grain‐boundary types in these thin films are 60°−〈221〉 tet and 71°−〈110〉 tet (near) Σ3 twin boundaries. These results can be related directly to the importance of {112} tet planes during the topotactical growth of chalcopyrite‐type thin films. Based on energetic considerations, it is assumed that the most frequent twin boundaries exhibit a 180°−〈221〉 tet constellation.