Study of CZTS morphology grown by immersion and sulfurization

Abstract

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films were developed for safe and inexpensive thin films. The research aims to provide detailed information about the morphology of CZTS grown by immersion and sulfurization techniques on soda-lime glass (SLG) and indium tin oxide (ITO). CZTS thin films were prepared in two stages, i.e., CZTS precursors were prepared by substrate immersion in precursor solution firstly and then sulfurization in a furnace with sulfur pellet addition and heat treatment (540 °C for 30 minutes). The CZTS thin films were characterized by XRD, SEM-EDX, and completed by Smartphone and CCD cameras for larger area observation. The EDX test produces Cu-poor and Zn-rich films. The structure of kesterite crystals and amorphous CZTS thin films on SLG and ITO substrates was identified through XRD characterization results. The sequential thickness of films from SLG A’s film, SLG B’s film, SLG C’s film, ITO A’s film, ITO B’s film, ITO C’s film is 11.64 µm, 9.33 µm, 17 µm, 11.96 µm, 3.64 µm, 62.08 µm. CZTS thin-film morphologies observed by using Smartphone camera, CCD, and SEM were showed that there were cracks and voids yielding inhomogeneous grains and high porosity thin films. The comparison revealed that the thin films grown on ITO showed smaller cracks and higher homogeneity than that on SLG.