Characterization of thermally evaporated CZTSe thin films used by compositionally controlled alloys

Stoichiometric adjusted Cu2Zn1.5Sn1.2Se4+x (CZTSe) alloys were successfully prepared by a thermal molten method. The pure phase was formed at x = 0.8 as confirmed by XRD and Raman spectroscopy. The bulk alloy was used for thin film coating by thermal evaporation method. The prepared films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and FT-IR spectroscopy. The XRD and Raman spectroscopy analysis revealed the formation of polycrystalline CZTSe thin films with tetragonal crystal structure after annealing of 450 °C. Diode characteristics were studied on the Mo/CZTSe/CdS sandwich geometry. The oxidation state of the selenized film was studied by XPS. The optical band gap of the CZTSe film was about 1.42 eV, which was varying with annealing and selenization condition. The carrier concentration, resistance and mobility of the selenized films were found to be 5.2 × 1015 cm−3, 2.2 KΩ/square and 5.5 cm2 V−1s−1 respectively and the conduction type was p-type. This study sheds light on the effect of annealing and selenization on various phases modifications and the light-harvesting capability of CZTSe solar cells.