Effects of annealing on Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films prepared on Mo substrate and the fabrication of solar cells

Abstract

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films on Mo substrate were obtained by a simple sol–gel process and subsequent sulfurization. To decrease the impact of the back contact to CZTS thin film solar cells, the pre-annealing and sulfurization process was controlled. Based on the sol–gel method, CZTS thin film solar cells with a structure of ZnO:Al/i-ZnO/CdS/CZTS/Mo/glass have been fabricated. The best power conversion efficiency (PCE) of CZTS solar cells was up to 4.28% under the optimized condition: the sulfurization temperature of 570 °C and CdS thickness of 50 nm.