Two step growth mechanism of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) semiconductor is rapidly emerging as the best absorber layer for next generation solar photovoltaics. Its cost effectiveness, environment-friendly nature, wide presence of chemical constituents in nature and high absorption coefficient with suitable energy band gap for effective utilization of solar spectrum makes it a viable alternative. The present work summarizes the preparation of CZTS films through a two-step process consisting of co-sputtered metallic precursors on glass substrates kept at 230 °C followed by sulfurization for 2 h in the ambience of elemental sulfur vapor at different temperatures ranging from 300 to 550 °C. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman analysis make it explicit that the sulfurization temperature has significant impact on reaction mechanism resulting in various bi-metallic, mono and binary metal sulfides. The diffraction pattern noticed at 500 °C corresponding to (112), (220) and (312) planes confirms the single phase CZTS as evidenced by weak and strong Raman modes at 285, 337 and 352 cm−1. The transmittance and reflectance measurements of optimized CZTS films revealed that the films have an energy band gap of ~1.56 eV. The optimized films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) attached with EDS to know the morphological features and elemental quantification. The single phase CZTS films have exhibited p-type conductivity with sheet resistance ~6.8×103 Ω/sq., carrier concentration ~9.1×1017 cm−3 and hole mobility ~16.6 cm2V−1 s−1.