The film morphology evolution and growth simulation of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) solar cells during electrodeposition

A three dimension (3D) Kinetic Monte Carlo coupled multi-body embedded-atom method (KMC-EAM) model has been developed to simulate the CZTS film growth and morphology evolution during electrodeposition. The influences of the deposition factors, including electrolyte concentration, temperature and electrode potential, on film growth were studied. The results show that the electrolyte temperature and potential have significant effects, while concentration has little effect on the film growth. The roughness show the lowest with smoother morphology under temperature (338K), concentration (0.5mol/L) and potential (−0.9V). The texture parameters, such as cluster size, was selected to describe the microstructure evolution. The film morphology has been visualized by 3D diagram, and a competing mechanism between nucleation and growth was proposed.