Synthesis and characterization of kesterite Cu2ZnSnTe4 via ball-milling of elemental powder precursors

Devendra Pareek; K. R. Balasubramaniam; Pratibha Sharma

doi:10.1039/C6RA09112A

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Synthesis and characterization of kesterite Cu₂ZnSnTe₄via ball-milling of elemental powder precursors†

Devendra Pareek,^a K. R. Balasubramaniam ‡^a and Pratibha Sharma ‡*^a

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* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai-400076, Maharashtra, India
E-mail: pratibha_sharma@iitb.ac.in

Abstract

A homologous series of kesterite light absorber materials Cu₂ZnSnX₄ (CZTX; X: S, Se, Te) can be used for realization of multi-junction solar cells. A stable member of the series (i.e. Cu₂ZnSnTe₄ (CZTTe)) was synthesized using a mechano-chemical route from its elemental precursors. Detailed characterization of the as synthesized as well as annealed CZTTe samples are being reported. XRD, Raman, TEM and SEM-EDS studies as well as Raman spectra confirm the formation of single-phase, stoichiometric, kesterite CZTTe nano-crystalline powder. The bandgaps of various samples of CZTTe were found in the range of 0.84–0.88 eV as confirmed by UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy. The low band gap < 1 eV, coupled with the high absorption coefficient of ∼10⁴ cm⁻¹ suggests the possible use of this material as the absorber layer in the bottom cell of all kesterite multi-junction solar cells.

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C6RA09112A
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 08 Apr 2016
Accepted: 13 Jul 2016
First published: 14 Jul 2016

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RSC Adv., 2016,6, 68754-68759

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Synthesis and characterization of kesterite Cu₂ZnSnTe₄ via ball-milling of elemental powder precursors

D. Pareek, K. R. Balasubramaniam and P. Sharma, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 68754 DOI: 10.1039/C6RA09112A

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