Synthesis of quaternary Cu2NiSnS4 thin films as a solar energy material prepared through «spray» technique

Cu2NiSnS4 (CNTS) is considered as a promising quaternary semiconductor, suitable for absorber layer in thin film solar cells because of their non toxic and earth-abundant elements. Here, we have successfully deposited CNTS thin films onto glass substrates by the Spray Sandwich method. These thin films were only obtained at substrate temperature 300 °C with 60 min spray duration. The prepared CNTS thin films exhibited high absorption coefficient (∼104 cm−1) in the visible region with direct band gap energy of 1.23 eV, suggesting its potential use in thin film solar cells.