Characterization of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films prepared with and without thin Al2O3 barrier layer

Abstract

We investigated the effect of thin Al2O3 barrier layer (∼20 nm) deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique on the structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) films. Major differences in the crystalline qualities of the films were not observed with the addition of the Al2O3 layer except for a small decrease in crystallite size. Raman spectra of the film with the Al2O3 layer exhibited the peaks belonging to ZnS and Cu2-xS secondary phases. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed that SO42- and CuSO4 compounds were formed on the surfaces of the films. The formation of the CuSO4 phase was associated with the bonding between CuO and S in an oxidized CZTS surface. The presence of the ZnS, Cu2-xS secondary phases, and CuSO4 on the surfaces of the films were also confirmed by scanning electron microscopy images. The film with the Al2O3 layer differed from the other films with its surface that have randomly distributed porous-structured agglomerations and a decrease in the ZnS secondary phases on its surface. All films exhibited different Na distributions in secondary ion mass spectroscopy depth profiles. The Al2O3 layer caused a slower gradient in Na diffusion with decreasing the accumulation of Na element at a distinct region. The activation energy for the thermally activated band conduction was calculated as 0.030 eV and attributed to the thermal release of the holes from the vacancy of copper (VCu) defect states. The results of temperature-dependent conductivity measurements indicated that there were different conduction mechanisms in the films.