Abstract
In present work, we report synthesis of nanocrystalline Kesterite copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) films by RF magnetron sputtering method. Influence of calcination temperature on structural, morphology, optical, and electrical properties has been investigated. Formation of CZTS has been confirmed by XPS, whereas formation of Kesterite-CZTS films has been confirmed by XRD, TEM, and Raman spectroscopy. It has been observed that crystallinity and average grain size increase with increase in calcination temperature and CZTS crystallites have preferred orientation in (112) direction. NC-AFM analysis revealed the formation of uniform, densely packed, and highly interconnected network of grains of CZTS over the large area. Furthermore, surface roughness of CZTS films increases with increase in calcination temperature. Optical bandgap estimated using UV–Visible spectroscopy decreases from 1.91 eV for as-deposited CZTS film to 1.59 eV for the film calcinated at 400 °C which is quite close to optimum value of bandgap for energy conversion in visible region. The photo response shows a significant improvement with increase in calcinations temperature. The employment these films in solar cells can improve the conversion efficiency by reducing recombination rate of photo-generated charge carriers due to larger grain size. However, further detail study is needed before its realization in the solar cells.
Highlights
As on today, silicon (Si) has the lion’s share in the photovoltaic industry
Formation of copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) has been confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), whereas formation of Kesterite-CZTS films has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Raman spectroscopy
Optical bandgap estimated using UV–Visible spectroscopy decreases from 1.91 eV for as-deposited CZTS film to 1.59 eV for the film calcinated at 400 °C which is quite close to optimum value of bandgap for energy conversion in visible region
Summary
Silicon (Si) has the lion’s share in the photovoltaic industry. The main reason behind it is the huge availability of Si on the earth and a developed and established industry for making high-quality Si solar cells. Several other direct bandgap semiconductor materials, such as copper indium gallium sulfides (CIGS), cadmium telluride (CdTe), etc, have been tried for solar cell application. These materials have their own problems like Cd and Te which are toxic, while Ga and In are expensive, which restrict the future development of solar cells. CZTS does not contain any toxic and expensive element, resulting in realizing of solar cell with less environmentally damaging and low cost. It is composed of naturally abundant and nontoxic elements [5]. Wang and his group fabricated laboratory scale CZTSSe solar cell having area
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