ELECTROSYNTHESIS OF NANOSTRUCTURED I-III-VI SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS

AN ELECTROCHEMICAL TECHNIQUE TO SYNTHESIZE COMPOSITION MODULATED SEMICONDUCTOR ALLOYS IS BEING DEVELOPED. THE EFFORT IS DIRECTED TOWARD DEFINING OPTIMAL CONDITIONS FOR DEPOSITION OF DEVICE QUALITY CUINSE2 FILMS AND DISCRETE LAYERED SUPERLATTICES FROM THE CU-IN-SE SYSTEM. RESEARCHERS ARE INVESTIGATING THE FEASIBILITY OF MICROMODULATED ELECTRODEPOSITION TO PRODUCE HOMOGENOUS AND HETEROGENOUS EPITAXIAL FILMSS. RESEARCH EFFORTS INVOLVE VOLTAMMETRIC SCREENING OF ELECTROLYTES, ELECTROSYNTHESIS, AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SUPERLATTICES. THE APPLICATION OF ELECTRODEPOSITION AND ARTIFICIAL STRUCTURING TO THE CU-IN-SE TERNARY STSTEM GENERATES A SERIES OF NOVEL STRUCTURES WITH UNIQUE OPTO-ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES. CUINSE2 CONSTITUTES THE PHOTOACTIVE COMPONENT FOR THE THIN-FILM SOLAR CELLS. ELECTRODEPOSITION OF HOMOGENOUS EPITAXIAL CUINSE2 FILMS DETERMINES THE FEASIBILITY OF ALL-ELECTROCHEMICALLY FABRICATED, LOW-COST PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS. QUANTUM AND NON-LINEAR OPTICAL EFFECTS ARE ANTICIPATED FOR ABRUPT SUPERLATTICES.