Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Growth and Characterization of the Evaporated Quaternary Absorber Cu2FeSnS4 for Solar Cell Applications

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

Abstract

Cu2FeSnS4 (CFTS) was synthesized by direct fusion of high-purity elemental copper, iron, tin and sulfur. CFTS thin films were deposited on glass substrates heated by single source vacuum thermal evaporation, after which the obtained samples were annealed under a sulfur atmosphere in a sealed quartz tube at 400°C for 1 h in order to optimize the CFTS stannite phase. The substrate temperature was varied from room temperature to 200°C. The formation of a stannite structure with (112), (200) and (004) planes in the powder and thin films was confirmed using x-ray diffraction measurements and the crystallites were found to have a preferred orientation along the (112) direction. Optical measurements analysis showed that after the sulfurization process the layers have a relatively high absorption coefficient close to 105 cm−1 in the visible spectrum. The films show a direct optical band gap in the range 1.30–1.63 eV for substrate temperature varied from room temperature to 200°C. All samples revealed p-type conductivity as determined by the hot probe method.

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. D.V. Talapin, J.S. Lee, M.V. Kovalenko, and E.V. Shevchenko, Chem. Rev. 110, 389 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. M.D. Regulacio and M.Y. Han, Acc. Chem. Res. 43, 621 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. S. Chen, X.G. Gong, A. Walsh, and S.-H. Wei, Phys. Rev. B Condens. Matter Mater. Phys. 79, 165211 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. J. Paier, R. Asahi, A. Nagoya, and G. Kresse, Phys. Rev. B Condens. Matter Mater. Phys. 79, 115126 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. H. Katagiri, K. Saitoh, T. Washio, H. Shinohara, T. Kurumadani, and S. Miyajima, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 65, 141 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. X. Meng, H. Deng, J. He, L. Zhu, L. Sun, P. Yang, and J. Chu, Mater. Lett. 117, 1 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. X. Meng, H. Deng, J. He, L. Sun, P. Yang, and J. Chu, Mater. Lett. 151, 61 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. J. Zhou, Z. Ye, Y. Wang, Q. Yi, and J. Wen, Mater. Lett. 140, 119 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. X. Jiang, W. Xu, R. Tan, W. Song, and J. Chen, Mater. Lett. 102–103, 39 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. B. Zhang, M. Cao, L. Li, Y. Sun, Y. Shen, and L. Wang, Mater. Lett. 93, 111 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. M. Cao, C. Li, B. Zhang, J. Huang, L. Wang, and Y. Shen, J. Alloys Compd. 622, 695 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. C. An, K. Tang, G. Shen, C. Wang, L. Huang, and Y. Qian, Mater. Res. Bull. 38, 823 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. C. Yan, C. Huang, J. Yang, F. Liu, J. Liu, Y. Lai, J. Li, and Y. Liu, Chem. Commun. 48, 2603 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. L. Ai and J. Jiang, J. Mater. Chem. 22, 20586 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. L. Ai and J. Jiang, Nanotechnology 23, 495601 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. R.R. Prabhakar, N.H. Loc, M.H. Kumar, P.P. Boix, S. Juan, R.A. John, S.K. Batabyal, and L.H. Wong, Appl. Mater. Interfaces 6, 17661 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. D.B. Khadka and J. Kim, J. Alloys Compd. 638, 103 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. W. Wang, H. Shen, H. Yao, and J. Li, Mater. Lett. 125, 183 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. K. Mokurala, P. Bhargava, and S. Mallick, Mater. Chem. Phys. 147, 371 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Z. Gui, R. Fan, X. Chen, Y. Hu, and Z. Wang, Mater. Res. Bull. 39, 237 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. X. Fontané, V. Izquierdo-Roca, E. Saucedo, S. Schorr, V.O. Yukhymchuk, M.Ya. Valakh, A. Pérez-Rodríguez, and J.R. Morante, J. Alloys Compd. 539, 190 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. M. Ben Rabeh, R. Touati, and M. Kanzari, Int. J. Educ. Psychol. Res. 2, 71 (2013).

    Google Scholar 

  23. R. Touati, M. Ben Rabeh, and M. Kanzari, Energy Procedia 44, 44 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. R. Touati, M. Ben Rabeh, and M. Kanzari, Thin Solid Films 582, 198 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. JCPDS Card No. 44-1476.

  26. J.B. Nelson and D.P. Riley, Proc. Phys. Soc. 57, 160 (1945).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. B.D. Cullity, Elements of X-ray Diffraction, 2nd ed. (London: Addition-Welsley, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

  28. G.K. Williamson and R.E. Smallman, Philos. Mag. 1, 34 (1956).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. X. Meng, H. Deng, L. Sun, P. Yang, and J. Chu, Mater. Lett. 161, 427 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. J. Zhong, Q. Wang, D. Chen, L. Chen, H. Yu, H. Lu, and Z. Ji, Appl. Surf. Sci. 343, 28 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. D.R. Acosta, C.R. Maganã, A.I. Martínez, and A. Maldonado, Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 82, 11 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. F. Liu, Y. Lai, J. Liu, B. Wang, S. Kuang, Z. Zhang, J. Li, and Y. Liu, J. Alloys Compd. 493, 305 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. T.S. Moss, Semiconductor Optoelectronics (London: Butterworth, 1973).

    Google Scholar 

  35. J. Tauc, Amorphous and Liquid Semiconductors (London: Plenum Press, 1974).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  36. E.A. David and N.F. Mott, Philos. Mag. 22, 903 (1970).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. O. De Melo, L. Hernández, O. Zelaya-Angel, R. Lozada-Morales, M. Becerril, and E. Vasco, Appl. Phys. Lett. 65, 1278 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Photovoltaïque et Matériaux Semi-conducteurs, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, BP 37, Le Belvédère, 1002, Tunis, Tunisia

    Hiba Oueslati, Mohamed Ben Rabeh & Mounir Kanzari

  2. Laboratoire de Photovoltaïque et Matériaux Semi-conducteurs, Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Institut Préparatoire aux études d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Université de Tunis, BP 37, Le Belvédère, 1002, Tunis, Tunisia

    Mounir Kanzari

Authors
  1. Hiba Oueslati
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mohamed Ben Rabeh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mounir Kanzari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hiba Oueslati.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Oueslati, H., Ben Rabeh, M. & Kanzari, M. Growth and Characterization of the Evaporated Quaternary Absorber Cu2FeSnS4 for Solar Cell Applications. J. Electron. Mater. 47, 3577–3584 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-018-6202-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-018-6202-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation