Synthesis and Characterization of Copper Indium Gallium Diselenide (CIGS) Nano-Crystalline Powder using SPEX Mill

Abstract

The CuIn1 – xGaxSe2 (CIGS) (x = 0.3) nanocrystalline powder was synthesized by reacting to its constituent elements i.e. Copper, Indium, Gallium, and Selenium in a SPEX mill. The SPEX mill is a high-energy mill where the reaction between constituent elements takes place in solid-state to form a nanocrystalline compound powder. SPEX mill consists of tungsten lined hardened steel vials and tungsten carbide balls are used as grinding media. Three different size grinding media was used with ball to charge ratio of 10 : 1. The optimization of milling time was studied to obtain CIGS nanocrystalline powder using SPEX mill. The phase analysis by X-ray diffraction shows the formation chalcopyrite (tetragonal) structure of CIGS after 4 h of high-energy milling with an average crystallite size of 10-13 nm. Raman spectra peak at 174 cm – 1 confirms the formation of the CIGS phase. The compositional analysis by EDAX confirms the formation of the stoichiometric composition of CIGS. This study reveals that it is possible to synthesize CIGS nanocrystalline powder using SPEX mill.