Properties of CuInS₂ nano-particles on TiO₂ by spray pyrolysis for CuInS₂/TiO₂ composite solar cell

In this letter, for the absorption layer of a CuInS₂/TiO₂ composite solar cell, I-III-VI₂ chalcopyrite semiconductor CuInS₂ nano-particles were deposited by using spray pyrolysis method on TiO₂ porous film. Their material characteristics including structural and optical properties of CuInS₂ nano-particles on TiO₂ nanorods were analyzed as a function of its composition ratios of Cu:In:S. Crystalline structure, surface morphology and crystalline size were also investigated by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM), and High-Resolution TEM (HRTEM), respectively. On the other hand, optical property was characterized by an UV-Visible Spectrophotometer. As a result, it was found that the size of CuInS₂ nano-particles, which was formed at 300±5°C, was smaller than 16 nm from HRTEM analyses, and it was identified that the CuInS₂ particle size was increased as increasing the heat-treatment temperature and time. However, as the size of CuInS₂ nano-particle becomes smaller, optical absorption edge of ternary compound film tends to move to the blue wavelength band. It turns out that the optical energy-band gap of the compound films was ranging from 1.48 eV to 1.53 eV.