Optical constants and critical point energies of (AgInSe₂)_0.75-(In₂Se₃)_0.25 single crystals

Abstract

AgInSe2 and In2Se3 are two attractive semiconducting materials for various technological applications especially for photovoltaic applications. In the present study, structural and optical properties of (AgInSe2)(x)-(In2Se3)(1-x) crystals for composition of x = 0.75 corresponding to chemical formula of Ag3In5Se9 were characterized by X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, room temperature transmission, and ellipsometry experiments. The transmittance spectrum was analyzed to reveal energy band gap. The derivative spectrophotometry analysis resulted in band gap energy of 1.22 eV. The spectra of complex dielectric function, refractive index and extinction coefficient were presented between 1.6 and 6.2 eV from the outcomes of ellipsometry analyses. Critical point energies have been determined using the derivative analyses of dielectric function. Five critical points at 2.70, 3.30, 4.05, 4.73, and 5.42 eV were revealed from the analyses. Crystal structure and atomic composition in semiconducting compound were also reported in the present work. The obtained results were compared with those reported for constituent compounds.