Nanostructure Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film prepared by sol–gel for optoelectronic applications
Highlights
► Thin film of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) was successfully prepared by sol–gel method. ► Al/n-Si/Cu2ZnSnS4/Al diode exhibits a good rectification behavior. ► Al/n-Si/Cu2ZnSnS4/Al diode can be used as a photosensor for electronic applications.
Introduction
Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin film is one of the promising materials for low-cost thin film solar cell and it exhibits a suitable band-gap energy of 1.4–1.5 eV for solar cells (Ito and Nakazawa, 1988, Jimbo et al., 2007, Moholkar et al., 2011, Rajeshmon et al., 2011).
For cost-effective photovoltaic technology, it is necessary to investigate new materials like Cu2ZnSnSe4, Cu2ZnSnS4 (Rajeshmon et al., 2011). The constituent elements of CZTS are nontoxic and inexpensive because they are abundant elements in the earth’s crust, although those of CIGS are toxic (Se) and expensive (In and Ga) (Tanaka et al., 2007). The several research groups have been used low-cost deposition techniques such as spray-pyrolysis, photochemical deposition, sol–gel, and electrodeposition for preparation of CZTS films (Scragg et al., 2008, Nakayama and Ito, 1996, Moriya, 2006, Kamoun et al., 2007, Sebastian et al., 2009).
In present study, the sol–gel method was used for preparation CZTS film to fabricate a heterojunction diode, because, this method is a very simple and low-priced process without requiring vacuum system. The CZTS thin film was prepared by the sol–gel method and it is evaluated that the sol–gel method is very simple and inexpensive method for preparing CZTS thin films.
Section snippets
Experimental details
For preparation of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) film, the precursors, copper (II) acetate monohydrate, zinc (II) acetate dihydrate, tin (II) chloride dihydrate, thiourea SC(NH2)2, 2-methoxyethanol (2-metho) and monoethanolamine (MEA) were used. The solution of the precursors was dissolved in 2-metho and it was stirred at 45 °C for 1 h to dissolve metal compounds completely. MEA was used as the stabilizer. The CZTS film was prepared using the sol solution dropped onto the silicon and glass substrates rotating
Structural and optical properties of the Cu2ZnSnS4 film
The atomic force image of the Cu2ZnSnS4 film is shown in Fig. 1. As seen in Fig. 1, the Cu2ZnSnS4 film is a nanostructure material formed from nanoparticles. The particle size was determined to be 50–90 nm. The surface roughness of the Cu2ZnSnS4 film was determined to be 15.56 nm using a PARK system AFM XEI software programming. For determination of optical band gap of the Cu2ZnSnS4 film, we used the following relation (Pankove, 1975):where B is an energy-independent constant and Eg
Conclusions
Thin film of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) was prepared by sol–gel technique. The AFM image of the Cu2ZnSnS4 film reveals that the film is a nanostructure material formed from nanoparticles with the particle size of 50–90 nm. The obtained optical band gap of 1.48 eV of the film is very suitable for solar cells. Al/n-Si/Cu2ZnSnS4/Al diode exhibits a good rectification behavior with ideality factor of 2.84, barrier height of 0.738 eV and the interface state density Dit of 3.63 × 1012 eV−2 cm−2. The obtained results
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Feyzi AKKAYA Scientific Activates Supporting Fund (FABED) and Global Research Network for Electronic Devices & Biosensors (GRNEDB) and KING Saud University.
References (20)
- et al.
Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids
(2008) - et al.
Solid State Electron
(1980) - et al.
Thin Solid Films
(2007) - et al.
Thin Solid Films
(2007) - et al.
Solar Energy Materials & Solar Cells
(2001) - et al.
Solar Energy
(2011) - et al.
Applied Surface Science
(1996) - et al.
Solar Energy
(2011) - et al.
Electrochemistry Communications
(2008) - et al.
Solar Energy
(2009)
Cited by (48)
Novel and promising material (CuInSn<inf>3</inf>S<inf>8</inf>) for photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications
2022, Surfaces and InterfacesNew hybrid nanocomposite based on (PVA-Ag-Coumarin) for high sensitive photodiode device
2021, Materials Science in Semiconductor ProcessingNew window layer of Cu<inf>2</inf>CdSn<inf>3</inf>S<inf>8</inf> for thin film solar cells
2020, Journal of Alloys and CompoundsMultifunctional CZTS thin films: Structural, optoelectrical, electrical and photovoltaic properties
2018, Journal of Alloys and CompoundsCitation Excerpt :Moreover, CZTS is considered as a good candidate in the forthcoming thin film solar cells since its theoretical conversion efficiency is 32% [5]. Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films have been prepared by different techniques viz. sputtering [6], thermal evaporation [7], spray pyrolysis [8], electrodeposition [9], dip coating [10], SILAR method [11], spin coating [8], sol-gel [12], solvothermal method [13] and chemical bath deposition (CBD) [14]. The highest conversion efficiency of CZTS achieved using vacuum techniques such as sputtering, thermal evaporation, etc. was about 9.6% [15].
Influence of frequency and applied voltage on electrical characterization of p-ZnTe:N/CdTe:Mg/n-CdTe:I/GaAs grown by molecular beam epitaxy
2017, Materials Chemistry and PhysicsCitation Excerpt :This behavior is similar to those published by Gupta [37] for the photosensor Ag/DNA/p-Si/Al diode. They explained that one of these peaks is due to interfacial states because the number of interfacial charges was trapped with illumination and photo-generated charges can contribute to the conductance of interface and consequently, the series resistance value increases with illumination [38]. Altındal et al. [37] have attributed the presence of the two peaks to charge transfer that happens through the interface and they commented that the values of Rs are in great effect, especially in the region of accumulation.