Crystal Growth, Structural and Optical Studies of CuGa₃Se₅ Bulk Compounds

Abstract

Bulk materials were synthesized by the Bridgman technique using the elements Cu, Ga, Se. These samples were characterized by Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS) to determine the elemental composition, as well as by X-ray diffraction for structure, hot point probe method for type of conductivity. Optical response (Photoconductivity) and Photoluminescence (PL) and PL-excitation (PLE) at temperatures from 4.2 to 77 K were also used to estimate the band-gap energy of Cu-Ga 3 Se 5 . They show a nearly perfect stoechiometry and present p-type conductivity. CuGa 3 Se 5 either have an Ordered Defect Chalcopyrite structure (ODC), or an Ordered Vacancy Chalcopyrite structure (OVC). The gap energy obtained by Photoconductivity and Photoluminescence (PL) for the different samples is 1.85 eV. Studying the variation of the gap as a function of the temperature shows that the transition is a D-A type. The defects that appear are probably Ga Cu .