Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cells fabricated by short-term sulfurization of sputtered Sn/Zn/Cu precursors under an H2S atmosphere

Abstract Synthesis of Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) thin films by short-term sulfurization of sputtered Sn/Zn/Cu precursors under ambient H 2 S is studied. The effect of the sulfurization processes on the film morphology, surface roughness, composition of the CZTS, and the crystallinity was investigated by using scanning electron microscopy, optical profiler, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction respectively. To further explore the CZTS layer, the following additional layers were deposited to complete the solar cells: CdS with chemical bath deposition; ZnO and Al 2 O 3 -doped ZnO with RF magnetron deposition; and, silver fingers as the front contact as the last layer. The optical and morphological properties of the CZTS films were investigated and compared. Subsequently, the electrical characteristics and the efficiencies of the regarding solar cells were analyzed. A maximum efficiency of 3.8% has been obtained for the fast sulfurization (30 min at 580 °C) and finally, the performance is compared with our best cell fabricated through the more common slow annealing.