Effects of different precursors on Cu2SnS3 thin film solar cells prepared by sputtering method

Abstract

In this work, the impacts of different precursors on Cu2SnS3 thin film solar cells were investigated in detail. The two kinds of precursors of CuS/Sn and Cu/Sn were deposited on Mo-coated soda lime glasses by magnetron sputtering. Cu2SnS3 (CTS) films based on different precursors were fabricated by soft annealing and following sulfurization in S vapor. The crystal structure, phase purity, composition, surface morphology and cross section images of CTS films from different precursors were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) respectively. Meanwhile, the optical-electrical properties of CTS thin films were detected by using UV–vis–INR Spectrophotometer and Hall measurement. As a result, the CTS thin films with smooth surface and uniform compositional ratio distribution were obtained from the precursors of CuS/Sn. The best conversion efficiency of the fabricated CTS film solar cell based on CuS/Sn precursors was 1.18% with a high open-circuit voltage of 299 mV.