Thin films of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 are grown by a co‐evaporation process in which the In, Ga, and Se fluxes, as well as the substrate temperature, are constant and the only variable is the Cu flux. This Cu flux varies in three steps in such a way that the growing film evolves from Cu‐poor to Cu‐rich and then back to Cu‐poor. The film growth is monitored by the ‘end point detection’ method, and film thicknesses of the order of 2 μm are deposited in less than 20 min. Quality devices (efficiencies above 15%) are produced in our baseline processes for all of the other synthesis steps. The Cu(In,Ga)Se2 layers are studied from a (112) versus (220) (204) orientation and recrystallization point of view. Including the results from a previous study on the influence of the substrate temperature to the present X‐ray diffraction and scanning as well as tunneling electron microscopy data, a five‐stage growth model for the films is described. The specific features of these films are that they are weakly (220) (204) oriented and exhibit crevices in their top fractions. The growth model hypothesizes about the origins of these crevices and on how to avoid them. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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The influence of the evaporation rate profiles on the microstructure of co-evaporated Cu(In,Ga)Se2, (CIGS), is discussed. The influence of Cu excess in the beginning of the CIGS growth has been investigated. In addition, the Ga rate has been varied in order to create bandgap grading in the CIGS film. By studying CIS and CGS films separately and as CGS/CIS stacks results on interdiffusion of In and Ga interdiffusion have been obtained. The resulting thin films are investigated mainly using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). Solar cell devices were prepared and IV measurements performed on samples with varying CIGS deposition parameters.