Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Stabilization of Ternary Compounds via Ordered Arrays of Defect Pairs

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters

First-principles calculations show that the defect pair (2V-Cu + In+Cu) in CuInSe2 has an unusually low formatioin energy, due both to the relative ease of forming Cu vacancies (Vcu) and to the attractive interactions between V-Cu and In2+Cu. The defect pair is predicted to be electrically inactive. This explains the surprising electrical tolerance of CuInSe2 to its huge (.apprx.1%) concentration of native defects. An attractive interaction among the defect pairs is further predicted to lead to a crystallogrphic ordering of the pairs, explaining the observed, but hitherto surprising, structures CuIn5Se8, CuIn3Se5, Cu2In4Se7, etc.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO.
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-99GO10337
OSTI ID:
915258
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 21, 26 May 1997 Vol. 78; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English