Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of Annealing Temperature on Structural, Optical, and Electrical Properties of Sol–Gel Spin-Coating-Derived Cu2ZnSnS4 Thin Films

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

Abstract

The effect of annealing temperature on structural, optical, and electrical properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films grown on a glass substrate by spin coating sol–gel technique has been studied. Structural study showed that all samples had kesterite crystalline structure. Scanning electron microscopy images showed that the crystalline quality of the samples was improved by heat treatment. Optical study showed that the energy gap values for the samples ranged from 1.55 eV to 1.78 eV. Moreover, good optical conductivity values (1012 S−1 to 1014 S−1) were obtained for the samples. Investigation of the electrical properties of the CZTS thin films showed that the carrier concentration increased significantly with the annealing temperature. The photoelectrical behavior of the samples revealed that the photocurrent under light illumination increased significantly. Overall, the results show that the CZTS thin films annealed at 500°C had better structural, optical, and electrical properties and that such CZTS thin films are desirable for use as absorber layers in solar cells. The photovoltaic properties of the CZTS layer annealed at 500°C were also investigated and the associated figure of merit calculated. The results showed that the fabricated ZnS–CZTS heterojunction exhibited good rectifying behavior but rather low fill factor.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

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

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. P. Jackson, D. Hariskos, E. Lotter, S. Paetel, R. Wuerz, R. Menner, W. Wischmann, and M. Powalla, Progr. Photovolt. Res. Appl. 19, 894 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. N. Nakayama and K. Ito, J. Appl. Surf. Sci. 92, 171 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. K. Ito and T. Nakazawa, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 27, 2094 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. H. Katagiri, N. Sasaguchi, S. Hando, S. Hoshino, J. Ohashi, and T. Yokota, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 49, 407 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. K. Tanaka, N. Moritake, and H. Uchiki, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 91, 1199 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. K. Tanaka, M. Oonuki, N. Moritake, and H. Uchiki, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 93, 583 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. W. Wang, M.T. Winkler, O. Gunawan, T. Gokmen, T.K. Todorov, Y. Zhu, and D.B. Mitzi, Adv. Energy Mater. 4, 1301465 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. S. Chen, X.G. Gong, A. Walsh, and S.H. Wei, Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 021902 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. K. Maeda, K. Tanaka, Y. Nakano, Y. Fukui, and H. Uchiki, Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 50, 05FB09 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. H.R. Jung, S.W. Shin, M.P. Suryawanshi, S.J. Yeo, J.H. Yun, J.H. Moon, and J.H. Kim, Sol. Energy (2016). doi:10.1016/j.solener.2016.09.043.

    Google Scholar 

  12. P. Scherrer, Göttinger Nachrichten Math. Phys. 2, 98 (1918).

    Google Scholar 

  13. G.K. Williamson and W.H. Hall, Acta Metall. 1, 22 (1953).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. M. Dimitrievska, A. Fairbrother, X. Fontan, T. Jawhari, V. Izquierdo-Roca, E. Saucedo, and A. Perez-Rodrıguez, Appl. Phys. Lett. 104, 021901 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Z. Seboui, A. Gassoumi, and N. Kamoun-Turki, Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 26, 360 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. J. Tauc, R. Grigorovici, and A. Vancu, Phys. Status Solidi B 15, 627 (1966).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. N.S.C. Sulaiman, C.H. Nee, S.L. Yap, Y.S. Lee, and T.Y.T.S.S. Yap, Appl. Surf. Sci. (2015). doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2015.02.096.

    Google Scholar 

  18. C. Sripan, V.E. Madhavan, A. Viswanath, and R. Ganesan, Mater. Lett. (2016). doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2016.11.094.

    Google Scholar 

  19. B.U. Maheshwari and V.S. Kumar, Mod. Opt. 61, 1225 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. A. Sagade and R. Sharma, Sens. Actuators B 133, 135 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. B. Uma Maheshwari and V. Senthil Kumar, Int. J. Energy Res. 39, 771 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. I.S. Babichuk, V.O. Yukhymchuk, M.O. Semenenko, N.I. Klyui, R. Caballero, O.M. Hreshchuk, I.S. Lemishko, I.V. Babichuk, V.O. Ganus, and M. Leon, Semicond. Phys. Quantum Electron. Optoelectron. 17, 284 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. J. Feng, X. Huang, W. Chen, J. Wu, H. Lin, Q. Cheng, D. Yun, and F. Zhang, J. Vacuum (2016). doi:10.1016/j.vacuum.2016.01.023.

    Google Scholar 

  24. F. Liu, Y. Li, K. Zhang, B. Wang, Ch. Yan, Y. Lai, Zh. Zhang, J. Li, and Y. Liu, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 94, 2431 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. G. Yang, Y.F. Li, B. Yao, Z.H. Ding, R. Deng, X. Fang, and Z.P. Wei, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 7, 16653 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. R. Qin, H. Cao, L. Liang, Y. Xie, F. Zhuge, H. Zhang, J. Gao, K. Javaid, C. Liu, and W. Sun, Appl. Phys. Lett. 108, 142104 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. F.Z. Boutebakh, M. Lamri Zeggar, N. Attaf, and M.S. Aida, Int. J. Light Electron Opt. (2017). doi:10.1016/j.ijleo.2017.06.080.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

    Rabie Hosseinpour, Morteza Izadifard & Mohammad Ebrahim Ghazi

  2. Department of Chemistry, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

    Bahram Bahramian

Authors
  1. Rabie Hosseinpour
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Morteza Izadifard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mohammad Ebrahim Ghazi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Bahram Bahramian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Morteza Izadifard.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hosseinpour, R., Izadifard, M., Ghazi, M.E. et al. Effect of Annealing Temperature on Structural, Optical, and Electrical Properties of Sol–Gel Spin-Coating-Derived Cu2ZnSnS4 Thin Films. J. Electron. Mater. 47, 1080–1090 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-017-5861-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-017-5861-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation