Formation Of CZTS Thin Films Research Articles

The use of liquid-phase method from DMSO solutions for synthesis of CZTS thin film materials

The possibility of synthesis of CZTS thin films on glass substrates from DMSO precursor solutions containing various quantity of copper ions was investigated. The dependence of composition of final CZTS compounds obtained from precursor solutions with different copper ion concentration in DMSO was shown. It was obtained that with the introduction of a low additive of copper ion concentration one can synthesize CZTS thin films with kesterite structure as well as with secondary phases (tin sulfides of SnS, Sn2S3). The increase of the concentration of copper ions in DMSO precursor solution promotes the formation of CZTS thin films with kesterite phase and the minimum content of impurities.

Novel Chemical Route for Deposition of Cu2ZnSnS4 Photovoltaic Absorbers

This work reports results of a study carried out to optimize the preparation conditions of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films grown by sequential deposition of Cu2SnS3 (CTS) and ZnS layers, where the Cu2SnS3 compound was grown using a novel procedure consisting of simultaneous precipitation of Cu2S and SnS2 performed by diffusion membrane assisted chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. The precipitation across the diffusion membranes allows achieving moderate control of release of metal ions into the work solution favoring the heterogeneous growth mainly through an ion-ion mechanism. Through a parameters study, conditions were found to grow Cu2SnS3 thin films which were used as precursors for the formation of Cu2ZnSnS4 films. The formation of CZTS thin films grown in the Cu2ZnSnS4 phase was verified through measurements of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy. Solar cells with efficiencies of 4.9% were obtained using CZTS films prepared by membrane assisted CBD technique as absorber layer.

Facile solution deposition of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nano-worm films on FTO substrates and its photoelectrochemical property

In this work, Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanoworm films have been directly deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) conductive glass substrates by a solvothermal method using polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG-400) as the solvent and structure-directing agent. The as-obtained CZTS thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectrum (XPS), UV–vis spectra and photoelectrochemical measurement. The synthetic conditions, such as reaction temperature, reaction time, solvents, were investigated to know the formation of CZTS thin films. The results showed that PEG-400 plays a key role in the formation of the nanoworms by affecting the crystal growth process. The p-type CZTS nanoworm film with the band gap of 1.62eV was synthesized at 180°C for 22h and the photovoltaic performance was studied by forming a photoelectrochemical cell.