Optical emission spectroscopy of High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS) of CIGS thin films

CuIn
_1-x
Ga
_x
Se
₂
(CIGS) thin films with x = 0, 0.28 and 1 were prepared by the sputtering of Cu, In and Ga in HiPIMS (High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering) or DC magnetron and subsequently selenized in an Ar+Se atmosphere. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) was used to monitor differences in HiPIMS and DC plasma during sputtering of metallic precursors. Thin film characteristics were measured using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and other techniques.