Electrochemical nanostructuring of CuInSe2 bulk crystals

Abstract

We show that chalcopyrite CuInSe2 crystals can be nanostructured by electrochemical treatment in an aqueous HCl solution. To make the crystals suitable for electrochemical nanostructuring, they are subjected to thermal treatment either in vacuum or in Zn vapors. The morphology of the produced material and the diameter of pores are found to be a function of the resistivity of the samples attained after thermal treatment. The pore diameter can vary in a range of 100 nm to 1 μm. The influence of thermal treatment and electrochemical etching on the photoluminescence spectra is analyzed.