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The influence of posttreatment processes on the structures and the optical and electrical properties of CuInS2 and its heterojunction with various sulfides (CdS, CdZnS, and CdCuS)

  • Original Paper: Sol-gel and hybrid materials for energy, environment and building applications
  • Published:
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Abstracts

As the first essential step toward understanding how to obtain an efficient CuInS2-based solar cell, this paper studied the photoelectric properties of CuInS2 and sulfide P–N heterojunction. For this purpose, the single-source evaporation method and the chemical bath deposition had been applied to prepare CuInS2 films and sulfide films (CdS, CdZnS, and CdCuS), respectively. The powder source was obtained from CuInS2 polycrystalline ingot, which consists of CuInS2 chalcopyrite phase. The segregated CuxS secondary phase on the surfaces of CuInS2 films could be removed by etching of bromine–methanol (BM) solution. The structures of ternary sulfide films (CdZnS and CdCuS) were similar to that of CdS film. The transient photocurrent of CdZnS thin film was highest, which might be related to the high reaction activity and the good crystal quality. Furthermore, the I–V response of CuInS2 and CdZnS heterojunction was studied, which was close to the ideal diode type behavior. The low reverse saturation current density, the optimal diode ideality factor, and the high barrier height were obtained from the I–V curve of CuInS2 and CdZnS heterojunction, which might mean that the CdZnS film could be suitable to use in photovoltaic application.

The opening voltage of the I–V curve was related to CdZnS film the steepest, showing remarkable rectification characteristic.

Highlights

  • The single source evaporation method and the chemical bath deposition had been applied to prepare CuInS2 films and sulfide films (CdS, CdZnS and CdCuS), respectively.

  • The segregated CuxS secondary phase on the surfaces of CuInS2 films could be removed by etching of Bromine Methanol (BM) solution.

  • The low reverse saturation current density, the optimal diode ideality factor and the high barrier height were obtained from the I-V curve of CuInS2 and CdZnS heterojunction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electronic Information Materials, Shanghai Leading Academic Disciplines, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200072, PR China

    Junjie Gu, Ming Ying & Yue Zhao

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  1. Junjie Gu
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  2. Ming Ying
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Correspondence to Yue Zhao.

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Gu, J., Ying, M. & Zhao, Y. The influence of posttreatment processes on the structures and the optical and electrical properties of CuInS2 and its heterojunction with various sulfides (CdS, CdZnS, and CdCuS). J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 97, 672–684 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-021-05473-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-021-05473-6

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