Improved structural properties, morphological and optical behaviors of sprayed Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films induced by high gamma radiations for solar cells

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films have been synthesized by spray pyrolysis technique, deposited on glass substrates and then irradiated by high gamma radiations. Six gamma radiation doses have been applied: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 100 kGy. The main objective of this work was to study the physical properties behavior of CZTS thin films under high gamma irradiation. Structural, optical and morphological properties of CZTS thin films were explored by X-ray diffraction, spectrophotometer and Scanning Electron Microscope, respectively. Structural analysis has shown that no noticeable changes have been occurred in the preferred orientation (112) or diffraction angles after gamma irradiation. Nevertheless, a significant increase in crystallite size from 52 to 79 nm has been observed after irradiation with 100 kGy gamma dose, which indicates a clear enhancement in crystalline structure. Certain optical parameters such as absorption and extinction coefficients (α(λ),K(λ)) have been only slightly affected, which indicate a radiation hardness of the CZTS thin films within the ionizing radiation range studied in this paper. Band gap energy of the irradiated thin films have been increased with the irradiation and reached 1.6 eV at 100 kGy gamma dose. Other optical parameters such as refractive index n(λ) and lattice dielectric constant (ε) have been determined and analyzed. All these experimental results clearly showed that structural properties of CZTS films have been improved by gamma irradiation while the optical properties have been slightly changed, which is favorable for optoelectronic applications working near nuclear environments or even for outer space solar cells and instrumentation for high-altitude flight, where gamma radiations are abundant.