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Novel Synthestic Approach and Characterization of CATS Thin Films Growth on Transparent Substrates by Using the VTE Methodolgy

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Abstract

The recent advancements in thin film photovoltaic technologies have spurred the demand for raw materials that are abundant and non-toxic. This need has prompted the investigation of Cu2AlSnS4 (CATS) thin films synthesized through the single source Vacuum Thermal Evaporation process and the impact of substrate type on their quality. In this study, various nonconductive substrates were used. The resulting samples were analyzed using various techniques to evaluate their structural, morphological, and optical characteristics. The films produced showed high quality and desirable morphology. Among the substrates used, the film deposited on ITO exhibited the best crystallinity based on the structural analysis. Additionally, the average grain size, as determined and was found to be 281.09 nm. The surface roughness of the ITO-deposited film was to be 8.25 nm through atomic force microscopy measurements. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicated that the samples contained nearly all the necessary components. An ideal band gap of 1.55 eV was observed for the ITO-deposited film based on optical analysis, which also showed a maximum absorption coefficient of 104 cm−1 in the visible region. These findings suggest that the fabricated CATS films are suitable for use as absorber layers in solar cells.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research at Umm Al-Qura University for supporting this work (Grant No. 22UQU4331172DSR01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Faculty of Applied Science, Umm AL-Qura University, Makkah, 21955, Saudi Arabia

    A. Timoumi, R. Altalhi & O. H. Alsalmi

  2. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia

    S. N. Alamri

  3. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Applied Science, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, 21955, Saudi Arabia

    Saleh A. Ahmed

  4. Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut, 71516, Egypt

    Saleh A. Ahmed

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All authors have contributed equally in writing the main manuscript text, preparing figures and reviewed the manuscript.

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Timoumi, A., Altalhi, R., Alsalmi, O.H. et al. Novel Synthestic Approach and Characterization of CATS Thin Films Growth on Transparent Substrates by Using the VTE Methodolgy. J Inorg Organomet Polym 33, 3583–3594 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10904-023-02781-y

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