Nuclear probes in the materials science of solar cells

We present background material about solar cells and the copper-indium-sulphur system and then discuss three important processes for the production of CuInS₂ solar-cell material. These include: sulphurization of metallic copper-indium precursors, physical vapour deposition of the elements, and three-source molecular beam deposition. Using perturbed angular correlations with the¹¹¹In-¹¹¹Cd probe, we are able to identify the indium-containing phases of the system and thus to characterize the cited production processes. The prospects of nuclear probe methods in the development of solar-cell materials are discussed.