Abstract
In the present work, the Copper Zinc Tin Sulfur Selenium (CZTSSe) absorber layer powder was prepared by solid state reaction process using ball mill machine and subsequently the paste was prepared. The paste was deposited using doctor blade method. The deposited films were annealed via two-step and three-step annealing method. For two-step annealing, in the first step the films were first ramped to 250 °C for 10 min and in the second step the temperature was ramped to 500 °C with three different hold times (5,10 and 20 min). Similarly, for the three-step process, samples were first ramped to temperature of 250 °C for 10 min, followed by an intermediate annealing step of 300 °C (10 min) and in the final step the temperature was ramped to 500 °C with two different hold times (5 and 10 min). The goal of the present work is to investigate the effect of annealing through two-step and three-step temperature profile on the CZTSSe absorber layer properties. The films were characterized using XRD (for phase analysis), SEM (for surface morphology), EDXRF (for composition analysis), and Hall Measurement (for electrical properties). It is found that the annealing hold time at higher temperature strongly influences the formation of CZTSSe grain growth, morphology and the electrical properties.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
S.R. Kodigala, Thin Film Solar Cells from Earth Abundant Materials Growth and Characterization of Cu 2 (ZnSn)(SSe) 4 Thin Films and their Solar Cells, Chap. 5 Fabrication and Characterization of Cu 2 ZnSn(S 1-x Sex) 4 Thin-Film Solar Cells (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2014), pp. 141–171
S. Abermann, Non-vacuum processed next generation thin film photovoltaic: towards marketable efficiency and production of CZTS based solar cells. Solar Energy 94, 37–70 (2013)
S. Siebentritt, S. Schorr, Kesterites—a challenging material for solar cells. Prog. Photovolt. Res. Appl. 20, 512–519 (2012)
W. Wang, M.T. Winkler, O. Gunawan, T. Gokmen, T.K. Todorov, Y. Zhu, D.B. Mitzi, Device characteristics of CZTSSe thin-film solar cells with 12.6% efficiency. Adv. Energy Mater. 4, 1301465 (2014)
Y. Cao, M.S. Denny Jr., J.V. Caspar, W.E. Farneth, Q. Guo, A.S. Ionkin, L.K. Johnson, M. Lu, I. Malajovich, D. Radu, H.D. Rosenfeld, K.R. Choudhury, W. Wu, High-efficiency solution-processed Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 thin-film solar cells prepared from binary and ternary nanoparticles. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134(38), 15644–15647 (2012)
T.S. Shyju, S. Anandhi, R. Suriakarthick, R. Gopalakrishnan, P. Kuppusami, Mechanosynthesis, deposition and characterization of CZTS and CZTSe materials for solar cell applications. J. Solid State Chem. 227, 165–177 (2015)
S. Chen, A. Walsh, J.-H. Yang, X.G. Gong, L. Sun, P.-X. Yang, J.-H. Chu, S.H. Wei, Compositional dependence of structural and electronic properties of Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 alloys for thin film solar cells. Phys. Rev. B 83, 125201 (2011)
H. Xiea, M. Dimitrievska, X. Fontané, Y. Sánchez, S. López-Marino, V. Izquierdo-Roca, V. Bermúdez, A. Pérez-Rodrígueza, E. Saucedo, Formation and impact of secondary phases in Cu-poor Zn-rich Cu2ZnSn(S1 – ySey)4 (0 ≤ y ≤ 1) based solar cells. Solar Energy Mater. Solar Cells 140, 289–298 (2015)
H. Dong, T. Schnabel, E. Ahlswede, C. Feldmann, Polyol-mediated synthesis of Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 kesterite nanoparticles and their use in thin-film solar cells. Solid State Sci. 29, 52–57 (2014)
K. Woo, K. Kim, Z. Zhong, I. Kim, Y. Oh, S. Jeong, J. Moon, Non-toxic ethanol based particulate inks for low temperature processed Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 solar cells without S/Se treatment. Solar Energy Mater. Solar Cells 128(2), 362–368 (2014)
M. Hemissi, H. Amardjia-Adnani, J.C. Plenet, B. Canut, J.M. Pelletier, Influence of annealing time on structural and electrical properties of Sb doped SnO2 films. Revue des Energies Renouvelables 10, 273–279 (2007)
R. Yan, L. Kang, Y. Sun, J. Zhang, Solution-processed Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film with mixed solvent and its application in superstrate structure solar cells. RSC Adv. 8, 11469–11477 (2018)
Y. Liu, M. Ge, Y. Yue, Y. Sun, Y. Wu, X. Chen, N. Dai, Colloidal Cu2ZnSnS4 nanocrystals generated by a facile route using ethylxanthate molecular precursors. Phys. Status Solidi RRL 5(3), 113–115 (2011)
Y. Wang, H. Gong, Cu2ZnSnS4 synthesized through a green and economicprocess. J. Alloys Compd. 509, 9627–9630 (2011)
P.M.P. Saloméa, J. Malaquias, P.A. Fernandes, M.S. Ferreira, A.F. da Cunha, J.P. Leitão, J.C. Gonzálezc, F.M. Matinag, Growth and characterization of Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 thin films for solar cells. Solar Energy Mater. Solar Cells 101, 147–153 (2012)
G. Chen, C. Yuan, J. Liu, Y. Deng, G. Jiang, W. Liu, C. Zhu, Low cost preparation of Cu2ZnSnS4 and Cu2ZnSn(SxSe1–x)4 from binary sulfide nanoparticles for solar cell application. J. Power Sources 262, 201–206 (2014)
M. Patel, I. Mukhopadhyay, A ray structural, optical and electrical properties of spray-deposited CZTS thin films under a non-equilibrium growth condition. J. Phys. D 45, 445103 (2012)
M.Z. Ansari, N. Khare, Structural and optical properties of CZTS thin films deposited by ultrasonically assisted chemical vapour deposition. J. Phys. D 47(18), 185101 (2014)
P.A. Fernandes, P.M.P. Salom´e, A.F. da Cunha, Study of polycrystalline Cu2ZnSnS4 films by Raman scattering. J. Alloys Compd. 509, 7600–7606 (2011)
Y. Sun, Y. Zhang, H. Wang, M. Xie, K. Zong, H. Zheng, Y. Shu, J. Liu, H. Yan, M. Zhua, W.M. Lauc, Novel non-hydrazine solution processing of earthabundant Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 absorbers for thin-film solar cells. J. Mater. Chem. A 1, 6880 (2013)
L. Grenet, S. Bernardi, D. Kohen, C. Lepoittevin, S. Noel, N. Karst, A. Brioude, S. Perraud, H. Mariette, Surfactant-tuned phase structure and morphologies of Cu2ZnSnS4 hierarchical microstructures and their visible-light photocatalytic activities. Solar Energy Mater. Solar Cells 101, 11–14 (2012)
W. Yang, H.S. Duan, B. Bob, H. Zhou, B. Lei, C.H. Chung, S.H. Li, W.W. Hou, Y. Yang, Novel solution processing of high-efficiency earth-abundant Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 solar cells. Adv. Mater. 24, 6323–6329 (2012)
F. Lopez-vergara, A. Galdamez, P. Barahona, V. Manriquez, Effect of the selenium content in the optical properties of the kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 – x Sex phases. J. Chil. Chem. Soc. 61(4), 3291–3294 (2016)
B. Pani, S. Pillai, U.P. Singh, Kesterite based thin film absorber layers from ball milled precursors. J. Mater. Sci. 27(12), 12412–12417 (2016)
Z.H. Zhou, Y.Y. Wang, D. Xu, Y.F. Zhang, Fabrication of Cu2ZnSnS4 screenprinted layers for solar cells. Solar Energy Mater. Solar Cells 94, 2042–2045 (2010)
F. Werner, Hall measurements on low-mobility thin films. J. Appl. Phys. 122, 135306 (2017)
O. Vigil-Galán, M. Courel, M. Espindola-Rodriguez, D. Jiménez-Olarte, M. Aguilar-Frutis, E. Saucedo, Electrical properties of sprayed Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films and its relation with secondary phase formation and solar cell performance. Solar Energy Mater. Solar Cells 132, 557–562 (2014)
Acknowledgements
Financial support by MNRE, New Delhi (31/13/2013-14/PVSE R&D) and DST New Delhi (DST/TMD/CER/C167(G)).The authors are thankful to Prof R K Singh IIT,BHU for Raman Measurements.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Padhy, S., Kumar, V. & Singh, U.P. CZTSSe absorber layer formation and impact of annealing process on its properties. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 30, 1100–1108 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-018-0379-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-018-0379-0