Characterization of inorganic materials with photoacoustic spectrophotometry

A photoacoustic spectrometer is described which has been constructed to mea sure the spectra of photovoltaic or other solid materials in the ultraviole t (UV), visible and near infrared regions. The range of this photoacoustic spectrometer is from 0.3 to 1.8 mum. The spectrometer was used to character ize the optical properties of polycrystalline and single phase p-CuInSe2 th in films which were grown by selenization of sputtered Cu/In multilayer at a temperature of 500 degreesC. The films showed a three-fold optical struct ure with three high energy transitions, which is the characteristic behavio r of the material. The photoacoustic spectrum is reported and discussed. (C ) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.