Electrochemically Fabricated Alloys and Semiconductors Containing Indium

Abstract

Although indium (In) is not an abundant element, the use of indium is expected to grow, especially as applied to copper-indium-(gallium)-selenide (CI(G)S) solar cells. In future when CIGS solar cells will be used extensively, the available amount of indium could be a limiting factor, unless a synthetic technique of efficiently utilizing the element is developed. Current vacuum techniques inherently produce a significant loss of In during the synthetic process, while electrodeposition exploits nearly 100% of the In, with little loss of the material. Thus, an electrochemical process will be the method of choice to produce alloys of In once the proper conditions are designed. In this review, we examine the electrochemical processes of electrodeposition in the synthesis of indium alloys. We focus on the conditions under which alloys are electrodeposited and on the factors that can affect the composition or properties of alloys. The knowledge is to facilitate the development of electrochemical means of efficiently using this relatively rare element to synthesize valuable materials, for applications such as solar cells and light-emitting devices.