Skip to main content
Log in

Preparation of Cu2ZnSnS4 Solar Cells by Sputtering Three Sulfide Targets at Different Sulfurization Annealing Temperatures

  • Original Research Article
  • Published:
Journal of Electronic Materials Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films were prepared by sputtering three sulfide targets at different sulfurization annealing temperatures from 550 to 600 ℃. The morphology, microstructure and optical-electrical properties of CZTS thin films were investigated. It was found that the crystal quality at the CZTS/Mo interface without intermediate layers was promising and the thickness of MoS2 was limited to within 90 nm. The expected results were achieved after 575 ℃ sulfurization annealing, indicating that sputtering three sulfide targets can compensate for part of the sulfur partial pressure in the sulfurization process. The measurements showed that CZTS thin film (called S2) sulfurized at 575 ℃ with a mobility of 282.7 cm2/V·s and a band gap of 1.49 eV had the best electrical and optical properties. The elemental depth profile showed that the composition in S2 was homogeneously distributed. Finally, the CZTS solar cell with an active area 0.8 cm2 was successfully fabricated and the conversion efficiency was 2.7%. The max external quantum efficiency exhibited a value of 79.7%. The short-circuit current density and open-circuit voltage of the device were 20.12 mA/cm2 and 381 mV, respectively. The relationship between the composition and the voltage deficit was also discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig.4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Xu. Lu Xiaoshudang, Q.X. Bin, C. Ye, Y. Pingxiong, C. Junhao, and S. Lin, Acs Appl. Mater. Inter. 12, 58060 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. P.K. Kannan, S. Chaudhari, and S.R. Dey, Thin Solid Films 649, 81 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. W.-S. Liu, S.-Y. Chen, C.-S. Huang, M.-Y. Lee, and H.-C. Kuo, J. Alloys Compd. 853, 157237 (2021).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. N. Akcay, E.P. Zaretskaya, and S. Ozcelik, J. Alloys Compd. 772, 782 (2018).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. J. Jiang, L. Zhang, W. Wang, X. Huang, and R. Hong, Mat. Sci. Semicon. Proc. 83, 125 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. G. Ren, D. Zhuang, M. Zhao, Y. Wei, Y. Wu, X. Li, X. Lyu, C. Wang, L. Hu, J. Wei, and Q. Gong, Vacuum 173, 109121 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. K.S. Gour, O.P. Singh, J.S. Tawale, and V.N. Singh, Superlattices Microst.. 120, 54 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. I.S. Babichuk, M.O. Semenenko, S. Golovynskyi, R. Caballero, O.I. Datsenko, I.V. Babichuk, J. Li, G. Xu, R. Qiu, C. Huang, R. Hu, I. Golovynska, V. Ganus, B. Li, J. Qu, and M. Leon, Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. C. 200, 109915 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. X. Huang, J. Lin, J. Xu, Y. Liu, Y. Yang, Z. Xie, and W. Cai, Ceram. Int. 44, 20877 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. B. Shin, Y. Zhu, N.A. Bojarczuk, S.J. Chey, and S. Guha, Appl. Phys. Lett. 101, 053903 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. W. Li, J. Chen, H. Cui, F. Liu, and X. Hao, Mater. Lett. 130, 87 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. U. Chalapathi, Y. Jayasree, S. Uthanna, and V.S. Raja, Vacuum 117, 121 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. J.J. Scragg, T. Kubart, J.T. Wätjen, T. Ericson, M.K. Linnarsson, and C. Platzer-Björkman, Chem. Mater. 25, 3162 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. G. Balaji, R. Balasundaraprabhu, S. Prasanna, N. Prabavathy, D.N. McIlroy, and M.D. Kannan, Opt. Mater. 75, 56 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. P. Chelvanathan, M.I. Hossain, J. Husna, M. Alghoul, K. Sopian, and N. Amin, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 51, 10NC32 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. K. Sun, C. Yan, F. Liu, J. Huang, F. Zhou, J.A. Stride, M. Green, and X. Hao, Adv. Energy Mater. 6, 1600046 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. D.-H. Kuo, W.-D. Haung, Y.-S. Huang, J.-D. Wu, and Y.-J. Lin, Surf. Coat. Tech. 205, 196 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. S.M. Pawar, A.V. Moholkar, I.K. Kim, S.W. Shin, J.H. Moon, J.I. Rhee, and J.H. Kim, Curr. Appl. Phys. 10, 565 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. C.W. Hong, S.W. Shin, K.V. Gurav, S.A. Vanalakar, S.J. Yeo, H.S. Yang, J.H. Yun, and J.H. Kim, Appl. Surf. Sci. 334, 180 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. K. Sardashti, R. Haight, T. Gokmen, W. Wang, L.-Y. Chang, D.B. Mitzi, and A.C. Kummel, Adv. Energy Mater. 5, 1402180 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. J. Briscoe and S. Dunn, Adv. Mater. 28, 3802 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. S. Ahmed, K.B. Reuter, O. Gunawan, L. Guo, L.T. Romankiw, and H. Deligianni, Adv. Energy Mater. 2, 253 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. P.A. Fernandes, P.M.P. Salomé, and A.F. Da Cunha, Phys. Status Solidi C. 7, 901 (2010).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. J.J. Scragg, T. Ericson, T. Kubart, M. Edoff, and C. Platzer-Björkman, Chem. Mater. 23, 4625 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. P.A. Fernandes, P.M.P. Salomé, and A.F. da Cunha, J. Alloys Compd. 509, 7600 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. O. Vigil-Galán, M. Espíndola-Rodríguez, M. Courel, X. Fontané, D. Sylla, V. Izquierdo-Roca, A. Fairbrother, E. Saucedo, and A. Pérez-Rodríguez, Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. C. 117, 246 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. P.A. Fernandes, P.M.P. Salomé, and A.F. da Cunha, Thin Solid Films 517, 2519 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. D.M. Berg, R. Djemour, L. Gütay, S. Siebentritt, P.J. Dale, X. Fontane, V. Izquierdo-Roca, and A. Pérez-Rodriguez, Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 192103 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. S.W. Shin, S.M. Pawar, C.Y. Park, J.H. Yun, J.-H. Moon, J.H. Kim, and J.Y. Lee, Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. C. 95, 3202 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. P.K. Sarswat, M. Snure, M.L. Free, and A. Tiwari, Thin Solid Films 520, 1694 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. K. Tanaka, Y. Fukui, N. Moritake, and H. Uchiki, Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. C. 95, 838 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. J.S. Seol, S.Y. Lee, J.C. Lee, H.D. Nam, and K.H. Kim, Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. C. 75, 155 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. W. Huang, Q. Li, Y. Chen, Y. Xia, H. Huang, C. Dun, Y. Li, and D.L. Carroll, Sol. Energy Mat. Sol. C. 127, 188 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. H. Katagiri, N. Sasaguchi, S. Hando, S. Hoshino, J. Ohashi, and T. Yokota, Sol. Energy. Mat. Sol. C. 49, 407 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Y.S. Lee, T. Gershon, T.K. Todorov, W. Wang, M.T. Winkler, M. Hopstaken, O. Gunawan, and J. Kim, Adv. Energy Mater. 6, 12 (2016).

    Google Scholar 

  36. C. Yan, F. Liu, K. Sun, N. Song, J.A. Stride, F. Zhou, X. Hao, and M. Green, Sol. Energy. Mat. Sol. C. 144, 700 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. A. Walsh, S. Chen, S.-H. Wei, and X.-G. Gong, Adv. Energy Mater. 2, 400 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. T. Gokmen, O. Gunawan, T.K. Todorov, and D.B. Mitzi, Appl. Phys. Lett. 103, 103506 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61774130, 61705192, 62065019).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jie Guo or Ruiting Hao.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Guo, J., Sun, S., Hao, R. et al. Preparation of Cu2ZnSnS4 Solar Cells by Sputtering Three Sulfide Targets at Different Sulfurization Annealing Temperatures. J. Electron. Mater. 50, 5209–5216 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-021-09027-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-021-09027-y

Keywords

Navigation