Chemical vapor deposition of indium precursors for solar micro-absorbers using continuous laser radiation

Abstract Localized deposition of indium on an amorphous glass surface covered with a thin molybdenum layer is demonstrated utilizing laser-assisted chemical vapor deposition. A continuous-wave laser causes a temperature rise on the molybdenum layer resulting in the selective aggregation of liquid and ultimately crystalline structures of indium. The formation sites of the indium are determined by the decomposition of gaseous trimethylindium. The deposited indium islands can serve as precursors and could be further processed into compound semiconductors like CuInSe 2 for micro-concentrator solar cells. The experimental investigations were supported by theoretical simulations of the laser heating process to calculate the local temperature distribution on the surface of the molybdenum-covered glass substrate.