Indium-sulfide-oxide thin films have been successfully deposited on indium-tin-oxide-coated glass from an aqueous solution containing Na2S2O3 and In2(SO4)3 by electrochemical deposition using a periodic 2-step-pulse voltage. The films have been annealed in nitrogen atmosphere for an hour at different temperatures; namely, 100, 200, 300 and 400. Then, the as-deposited and annealed films were characterized structurally, morphologically and optically. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) study was performed in order to understand the chemical states of the oxygen involved in the film composition. The photosensitivity was observed by means of photoelectrochemical measurements, which confirmed that the as-deposited and annealed films showed n-type conduction. Moreover, a heterostructure solar cell that has indium sulfide as a buffer layer and tin sulfide as an absorber was fabricated and characterized.

A Ge/Si structure grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is angle-lapped and characterized by the micro-Raman spectroscopy. Near the interface, the phonon mode due to the Si-Ge bond is clearly observed, which indicates that a SiGe alloy is formed by the solid-phase interdiffusion at the interface. The thickness of the interfacial alloy layer is about 0.2 µm. Amount of residual strain is estimated by comparing the measured phonon frequencies with those predicted from the composition profie, but the shift due to the residual strain is not appreciable. Both the interdiffusion at the interface and the nearly complete relaxation of the lattice mismatch are attributed to the high growth temperature of the CVD sample.