Preparation and characterization of CuInSe₂ (CIS) thin films by one-step electrodeposition: corrosion analysis

Abstract In this study, it was focused on the structural and morphological and the corrosion properties of CIS NTFs electrodeposited on ITO substrates before and after annealing. After deposition, the CIS NTFs were annealed for 30 min. at 400 °C in a nitrogen (N 2 ) atmosphere. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicated that CIS NTFs crystallize in a tetragonal structure typical of the chalcopyrite phase, exhibiting a preferential orientation along the (112) plane and the CIS NTFs exhibited an increase in grain size after annealing. Raman analysis showed that the wavenumbers at 210 cm −1 and 288 cm −1 reveal the characteristic modes of the chalcopyrite phase of CIS after the annealing. The roughness of the CIS NTFs was measured at 108 nm before annealing, and this value increased after the annealing. The corrosion rate of the CIS NTFs was recorded at 6.04 × 10 −4 mm y −1 before annealing and this value decreased after annealing. The findings indicate that the increase in grain size subsequently was attributed to improved corrosion resistance after annealing and the increase of the corrosion resistance performed the more protective layer in CIS NTFs after annealing.