Abstract

This work focuses on the preparation and structural characterization of the semiconductor Cu3In5 Se9, an important member of ordered vacancy compounds family, belonging to the semiconductor system I3-III5--VI9, where denotes the cation vacancy which is included in the formula to maintain the same number of cations and anions sites. This material was synthesized by the Bridgman-Stockbarger technique, and its structure was refined from powder X-ray diffraction data using the Rietveld method. Cu3In5 Se9 crystallizes with tetragonal symmetry in the space group P 4 2c (Nº 112), with a = 5.7657(1) Å, c = 11.5353(4) Å, V = 383.47(2) Å3. This ternary compound consists of a three-dimensional arrangement of distorted CuSe4 and InSe4 tetrahedral connected by common faces. In this structure, each Se atom is coordinated by four cations located at the corners of a slightly distorted tetrahedron, and each cation is tetrahedrally bonded to four anions. Cu3In5 Se9 is related to the p-type CuInSe2 and n-type CuIn3Se5 semiconductor compounds, which are being used in the preparation of high-efficiency solar cells.