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This study draws on our experiences with graphene to perform a hybrid TCO structure composed of AZO and graphene. We first set out to enhance the electrical and optical properties of AZO to enable its use especially in the field of solar cell. Hence, in our study, we deposited various thicknesses of AZO thin films on glass substrates and transferred single layer graphene on them to realize the formation of hybrid TCO structure. Among the various AZO film thicknesses, the optimum one, 300 nm, was determined and then the graphene film was added on top of the AZO film. This hybrid structure was applied to the silicon-based heterojunction solar cell with the idea of improving the cell performance. The cell performance fabricated using AZO film and AZO + graphene structure was analyzed using solar simulator. Our findings highlight the fact that the presence of graphene improved the cell efficiency by about 7%. Our research was further extended using ITO and ITO + graphene hybrid structure as TCO for silicon-based solar cell. We discovered that graphene incorporation increased the cell efficiency by almost 12% based on our results with ITO + graphene hybrid TCO structure on a similar cell.

In this study, Cu2SnS3 (CTS) thin films prepared by a two-step sulfurization process were characterized. Cu and Sn metallic layers were first deposited on glass substrates by sputtering and then annealed in-situ while in the sputtering chamber to obtain CuSn (CT) alloys. This was followed by a pre-treatment step at temperatures between 200 and 350 °C in presence of S vapors. Finally, a full sulfurization step was performed at 525 °C to obtain the desired CTS phase. CTS films were characterized using EDX, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, optical transmission and Van der Pauw methods. It was found that all CTS samples had Cu-poor chemical composition. XRD data revealed only diffraction peaks belonging to CTS structure after the full sulfurization step. Raman spectra of the samples showed that except for the CTS sample pre-treated at 250 °C (CTS-250), which displayed the tetragonal crystal system, the films were dominated by the monoclinic structure. SEM surface images showed dense and polycrystalline microstructure, CTS-200 sample exhibiting a more uniform morphology. Optical band gap values were found to be ranging from 0.92 to 1.19 eV. All samples showed p-type conductivity but the sample pre-treated at 350 °C had higher resistivity and lower carrier concentration values. Overall, the CTS layer prepared using the pre-treatment step at 200 °C exhibited more promising structural and optical properties for potential photovoltaic applications. This work demonstrated that it is possible to change the crystal structure of sulfurized CTS thin films through a pre-treatment step.

In this study, CZTS thin films were grown by annealing of sputtered films using quaternary single target employing various annealing parameters. The effects of the post-sulfurization treatment, reaction temperature (500, 525, 550 and 575 degrees C) and sulfurization time (60, 90, 120 and 150 s) on the properties of CZTS thin films were analyzed. The optimization of reaction temperature for 60 s dwell time was examined by annealing the precursor films with/without sulfur atmosphere. It was shown that annealing of the films under the sulfur atmosphere prevents Zn-loss in the samples for higher annealing temperatures (550 and 575 degrees C) and hindering the formation of secondary phases such as Cu2-xS, Cu2SnS3(CTS). The FWHM values of the sulfurized samples revealed that the sulfurization temperature of 550 degrees C is preferable for the fabrication of CZTS samples. Further optimization was performed at 550 degrees C for various sulfurization times. It was seen that all the samples have Cu-poor and Zn-rich composition. The XRD pattern of CZTS samples displayed formation of kesterite CZTS phase but SnS(2)phase formations were also observed for longer sulfurization time (> 120 s). It was also observed that the sulfurization time has more significant contribution on the crystallite size of the samples with respect to sulfurization temperature. The Raman spectra of the CZTS samples confirmed the formation of kesterite structures for all the films and appearance of secondary phase for films prepared using longer sulfurization time (> 120 s). All the samples displayed a dense and polycrystalline surface morphology, but the sulfurized sample for 120 s displayed more homogenous and prominent morphology. The room temperature PL measurements demonstrated a broad band which peaked at about 1.36-1.37 eV, which is very close to the band gap of kesterite CZTS structure. The electrical characterization of the samples showed that all the samples have p-type conductivity and the CZTS-S-550-120 sample has a more promising result considering both resistivity and carrier concentration.

In this study, we investigated the impact of incorporating graphene with Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) when employing them as a TCO layer on Si-based solar cell. GZO thin films with various thicknesses (50-450 nm) were fabricated by the sputtering method using a single target. The aim here was to determine the GZO film with the optimum thickness to incorporate it with single layer graphene as TCO. This thickness was found to be 350 nm as that was the best crystalline quality found in the Opattern. Further, this sample had the lowest sheet resistance and highest transmission values as confirmed by electrical (sheet resistance), and optical characterizations (transmission). Topographic (SEM and AFM), electrical (resistivity and carrier concentration) measurements were also conducted on the same sample. The graphene film grown on copper in a CVD system was then transferred on top of this sample to fabricate the hybrid TCO structure. We found that graphene integrated GZO hybrid TCO film showed higher sheet resistance due to high sheet resistance of graphene and similar optical properties thanks to high optical transmission of graphene. Employing graphene-based TCO layer in the solar cell resulted in higher open-circuit voltage, consequently improving the conversion efficiency from 10.0% to 11.2%. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ternary compounds Cu2SnS3, Cu2SnSe3 and Cu2Sn(S,Se)3 thin films used in thin film solar cell applications were prepared at the first time by such a two-stage process that includes dip-coating of Cu–Sn precursors as distinct from vacuum-based fabrication methods followed by sulfurization/selenization of prepared precursors via rapid thermal processing at 550 °C. All prepared thin films revealed Cu-poor composition. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectra of the samples showed that Cu2SnS3 and Cu2SnSe3 thin films had a monoclinic structure as a dominant phase and additionally some secondary phases such as tetragonal Cu2SnS3 and orthorhombic Cu3SnS4. However, the tetragonal and orthorhombic phases had more impact on Cu2Sn(SSe)3 thin film. Compact, dense, and small grained surface morphologies were obtained for the Cu2SnS3 and Cu2Sn(SSe)3 thin films, while the surface morphology of the Cu2SnSe3 thin film had larger grained surface morphology. The Cu2SnS3 thin film demonstrated higher transmittance (~ 65%) and two different absorption edges that indicates formation of two band gap energy. Band gap values of Cu2SnS3, Cu2Sn(SSe)3 and Cu2SnSe3 thin films were found 0.97 eV (and 1.51 eV), 1.25 eV and 0.78 eV, respectively. The lowest resistivity (2.48 × 10-1 ? cm) and the highest carrier concentration (1.64 × 1019 cm-3) values were observed for Cu2Sn(SSe)3 thin film. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature., Recep Tayyip Erdogan Üniversitesi, This work was supported by the research fund of Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize, Turkey, under Contract No. FDK-2018-964

In this study, Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films were synthesized by a two-stage process. In the first stage, CuSn/Zn/Cu (E-type) and CuSn/ZnS/Cu (B-type) stacked films were formed using the sputtering method. In the second stage, precursor films were annealed in sulfur atmosphere utilizing various annealing temperatures (500, 525, 550 and 575 degrees C) employing the Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) method. The EDX measurements demonstrated that almost all the samples had Cu-poor and Zn-rich compositions, as targeted. The XRD patterns of all the CZTS samples were dominated by diffraction peaks of the kesterite CZTS phase. In addition to CZTS phase, Cu-S/Sn-S based secondary phases in all E-type CZTS thin films and some B-type CZTS samples annealed at lower temperatures (500 and 525 degrees C) were observed. The samples annealed at above 525 degrees C revealed purer crystal structure in terms of secondary phases and they have more promising crystallite size in both types of CZTS thin films. The Raman spectroscopy measurements confirmed the formation of kesterite CZTS phase and distinguished the formation of Cu2SnS3 (CTS) phase for some samples. The samples annealed at 550 degrees C presented purer structure for potential solar cell application. The SEM surface and cross-section images of all CZTS samples displayed dense and polycrystalline structures but samples annealed at 550 degrees C presented a larger-grained surface and crosssection structure in both types of CZTS films. PL spectra of the B-type CZTS samples exhibited a purer band structure with respect to E type CZTS samples according to their PL band values. The best solar cell performance was achieved with CZTS thin film prepared using CuSn/ZnS/Cu stack annealed at 550 degrees C temperature with 252 mV, 32 mA/cm(2), and 3.79% parameters. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In this work, SnS thin films were prepared by in situ and ex situ annealing process of precursor films deposited by RF (Radio Frequency) magnetron sputtering employing binary SnS target. In situ annealing treatment was performed in sputtering chamber and ex situ annealing treatment was performed using RTP (Rapid Thermal Processing) system under Ar+H2 mix gas employing 225, 300 and 375 °C as reaction temperatures in order to find out the best fabrication parameters of SnS thin film since it has been used as an absorber layer in the cell structure. The EDX (Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy) measurements showed that precursor and reacted films have almost stoichiometric composition except for in situ annealed sample at 375 °C. XRD (X-ray Diffraction) patterns of all samples revealed orthorhombic SnS phase regardless of annealing route and temperature. In addition to SnS phase, formation of SnS2 phase was observed in in situ annealed SnS samples at 225 and 300 °C. Moreover, in situ annealed samples displayed larger crystallite size and lower micro strain compared to ex situ annealed samples. Raman spectra of the samples confirmed formation of orthorhombic SnS phase and it was also seen that crystalline quality gave rise to shift in position of Raman bands for some samples. Only a SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) image of in situ annealed sample at 375 °C displayed distinct surface morphology. Optical band gap values of the samples showed variation between 1.35 and 1.66 eV. Electrical characterization of the films showed that resistivity values changed from 3.34×103 to 2.28×104 Ω-cm and carrier concentration values changed from 1.34×1014 to 1.05×1015 cm−3. It was seen that in situ annealing at 375 °C exhibited more promising results for potential SnS based photovoltaic applications.

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films are commonly used as an absorber layer in the thin film solar cell structure. In this study, CZTS thin films were produced by sulfurization of stacked precursor films that is prepared by deposition of Cu, Zn, SnS, ZnS films on glass substrate using sputtering method. The sequential sputter deposition was performed to obtain two distinct stacked precursors, Cu/SnS/Zn/Cu and Cu/SnS/ZnS/Cu respectively. Afterwards, annealing process was implemented at various reaction temperatures (500–575 °C) for 1 min utilizing rapid thermal processing (RTP). The EDX measurements revealed that all the prepared CZTS samples had Cu-poor and Zn-rich composition that are non-stoichiometric chemical composition. This non-stoichiometric composition is important for high efficient CZTS based solar cells. XRD measurements revealed that all patterns are dominated by diffraction planes of kesterite CZTS. The CuS, Cu2S and SnS2 secondary phases also were detected in the XRD pattern of some CZTS films. Raman spectroscopy measurements verified formation of kesterite CZTS phase for all films and picked out CTS phase for some samples prepared using Cu/SnS/Zn/Cu precursor films. The surface microstructure of the films that were obtained through SEM displayed polycrystalline surface structure. Room temperature PL emission spectra of the films showed broad peak at around 1.37–1.38 eV, which is near to the optical band gap of kesterite CZTS structure. Electrical characterization of the samples demonstrated that B-525 CZTS thin film has more suitable electrical resistivity and carrier concentration values for CZTS based solar cell applications.

In this study, CZTS thin films were prepared using a two-stage process consisting of sputter deposition of Cu, Sn and ZnS layers on the glass substrates to form CuSn/ZnS/Cu stacked precursor films followed by sulfurization process under various flow-rate (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 sccm) of Ar+H2 mix gas in a tubular furnace. The EDX measurements of the precursor and reacted films are Cu-rich and Zn-rich composition. However, Zn and Sn loss was observed for samples annealed under the flow-rate of gas above the 60 sccm. The XRD pattern of the samples showed diffraction peaks of pure kesterite CZTS structure and the FWHM values extracted from their XRD patterns and W-H plot calculations demonstrated that CZTS-40 thin film had a more desired crystallite size. The Raman spectra of the samples confirmed the formation of CZTS phase for all samples and indicated the formation of some secondary phases such as Cu2SnS3, SnS2, Sn2S3 except for CZTS-40 thin film. All the samples displayed dense and polycrystalline microstructure according to their SEM images. The optical band gap values of CZTS samples showed variation between 1.40 and 1.48 eV. The room-temperature PL spectra of the samples revealed a broad band that had a peak value at around 1.36–1.40 eV that are close to the optical band gap values for prepared CZTS samples.

In the presented work, Ga-doped CdS and (Ga-K)-co-doped CdS thin films are grown on glass substrates at a temperature of 400 °C through spray pyrolysis. Influence of K-doping on structural, morphological, optical and electrical characteristics of CdS:Ga thin films are examined. K level is changed from 1 at% to 5 at% for CdS:Ga samples just as Ga concentration is fixed 2 at% for all CdS thin films. It is observed from the X-ray diffraction data that all the samples exhibit hexagonal structure and an increase level of K in Ga-doped CdS samples causes a degradation in the crystal quality. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy measurements illustrate that the best stoichiometric film is acquired when K content is 2 at% in Ga-doped CdS films. Optical transmission curves demonstrate that CdS:Ga thin films exhibit the best optical transparency in the visible range for 4 at% K content compared to other specimens. A widening in the optical bandgap is unveiled after K-dopings. It is obtained that maximum band gap value is found as 2.45 eV for 3 at%, 4 at% and 5 at%. K -dopings while Ga-doped CdS thin films display the band gap value of 2.43 eV. From photoluminescence measurements, the most intensified peak is observed in the deep level emission after incorporation of the 4 at% K atoms. As for electrical characterization results, the resistivity reduces and the carrier density improves with the increase of K concentration from 1 at% to 4 at%. Based on all the data, it can be deduced that 4 at% K-doped CdS:Ga thin films show the best optical and electrical behavior, which can be utilized for solar cell devices.

In this study Cu 2 ZnSnSe 4 (CZTSe) thin films were grown by a two-stage process that involved sputter deposition of a Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu metallic stack, annealing the stack at various temperatures for 30 min, evaporation of a Se cap over the metallic stack thus forming a precursor layer, and subjecting the precursor layer to a final high temperature reaction step at 550 °C. Different samples were prepared with annealing temperatures of the metallic stacks ranging from 200 °C to 350 °C. The results showed that heat treatment of the metallic stacks did not cause much change in their morphology and elemental composition, however their phase content changed noticeably when the anneal temperature was raised to 250 °C. Specifically, while the metallic films were dominated by CuSn and Cu 5 Zn 8 phases at low temperatures, the dominant phase shifted to Cu 6 Sn 5 at the annealing temperature of 250 °C and higher. Also formation of a distinct Cu 3 Zn 2 phase was observed upon annealing at temperatures at or above 250 °C. After reaction with Se, the CZTSe layer obtained from the metallic film, which was annealed at 250 °C was found to be the best n terms of its composition, crystalline quality and purity, although it contained a small amount of CuSe. The other layers were found to contain small amounts of other secondary phases such as SnSe, CuSe 2 , ZnSe and Cu 2 SnSe 3 . SEM micrographs showed denser structure for CZTSe layers grown from metallic films annealed at or above 250 °C. Optical band gap, resistivity and carrier concentration of the best quality CZTSe film were found to be about 0.87 eV, 2 Ω-cm and 4 × 10 17 cm − 3 , respectively.

This paper reports the investigation of physical properties of CdS:Ga thin films grown for the first time by a simple spray pyrolysis method as a function of Ga-doping level from 0 to 8 at.%. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive photoelectron spectroscopy, transmittance, photoluminescence, Hall effect and resistivity measurements are utilized to search for the structural, morphological, chemical, optical and electrical properties of as-prepared samples. XRD data confirm the presence of hexagonal structure with a strong (101) preferred orientation. SEM results show that the surface morphology varies significantly via Ga-doping, particularly 6 at.% doping level. Optical transparency is improved by the lower Ga-doping (2 and 4 at.%) whereas higher doping concentration (6 and 8 at.%) causes a poor transmission in the visible region. With respect to CdS (2.42 eV), the calculated band gap values at first enhances for 2 at.% Ga-doping and reaches to 2.43 eV. But, further increase in Ga-doping amount leads to a drop in the band gap value (2.39 eV) for 8 at.% Ga-doping. Electrical analyses display that 2 at.% Ga-doped CdS thin films exhibit a maximum carrier density and a minimum resistivity that are related to the substitutional incorporation of Ga3+ ions at Cd2+ ions. However, higher doping of Ga atoms into CdS gives rise to a gradual diminish in the carrier concentration and a rise in the resistivity. Based on all the data, it should be concluded that 2 at.% Ga-doped CdS thin films exhibit the best optical and electrical properties that can be used in the optoelectronic applications.

In this study, Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) absorber layers were grown by sequential deposition of metallic Cu, Zn, and Sn layers by DC magnetron sputtering on Mo coated glass followed by annealing in sulfur atmosphere in a rapid thermal processing (RTP) system for 3 min at 500 °C, 550 °C and 600 °C. Two different metal stacking sequences were investigated: Mo/Zn/Sn/Cu and Mo/Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu – both with a Cu-poor and Zn-rich composition. For the Mo/Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu stack, the initial Mo/Cu/Sn layer was pre-annealed to yield homogeneous Cu Sn alloys on which Zn and the final Cu was deposited afterwards. Compositional inhomogeneities were studied by measuring X-ray fluorescence (XRF) before and after KCN etching of the sulfurized samples as well as by glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES). Additionally, crystallographic properties were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. For the Mo/Zn/Sn/Cu precursor, we find that the initial stacking order is partially preserved with a Cu-rich surface and a Zn-rich bottom. In contrast, the modified stacking Mo/Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu leads to an improved compositional homogeneity. While a Zn-rich composition is still found at the bottom part of the film, after sulfurization for 3 min at 600 °C the surface and bulk part show homogeneous element distributions close to that of CZTS.

Kβ/Kα, intensity ratios and σKα,β production cross-sections of Cu and Sn were measured in pure metals and in different alloys which have different compositions (CuxSn1−x x=0.48, 0.41, 0.14 and 0.06). The samples were excited by 59.5 keV γ-rays from 241Am annular radioactive source. K X-rays emitted by samples were counted by an Ultra-LEGe detector with a resolution of 150 eV at 5.9 keV. Comparison of the σKβ production cross-sections and Kβ/Kα X-ray intensity ratio values for Cu and Sn with the theoretical and semi-empirical calculations indicates that they are in the inverse direction with concentration of constituent element in the alloys. The results show that variations in these parameters can be explained with the charge transfer process between the elements which constitute the alloys.

In this study CZTS thin films were grown by a two-stage process that involved sequential sputter deposition of metallic Cu, Zn, and Sn layers on Mo coated glass substrates followed by RTP annealing at 530 and 560 °C for various dwell times (1, 60, and 180 s). CZTS thin films obtained by reaction at different sulfurization temperatures and reaction times were characterized employing XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, EDX, and photoluminescence. It was observed that it is possible to obtain Cu-poor and Zn-rich CZTS thin films with short dwell time of reactions. XRD pattern and Raman spectra of the films showed formation of kesterite CZTS structure and some secondary phases such as CuS, SnS, SnS 2 . The full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) values extracted from the (112) diffraction peaks of the CZTS thin films showed that extension of the sulfurization time provides better crystalline quality except for the CZTS560-60 thin film. SEM surface microstructure of the films displayed non-uniform, dense, and polycrystalline structure. The optical band gap of the films as determined by photoluminescence was found to be about 1.36-1.38 eV. © 2019 IOP Publishing Ltd.

In this study, growth of CZTS thin films was performed by sputter deposition of metallic precursor layers followed annealing process at different sulfurization temperatures and times. In the first stage of the study, effect of the reaction temperature for 1 s sulfurization time was investigated. XRD pattern of the sample sulfurized at 560 °C showed purer XRD pattern and better crystalline quality. Zn and Sn loss was observed for reacted samples at 540 and 580 °C. SEM images of CZTS560-1 samples revealed purer and molten-like surface structure. Optical band gap values were found 1.45 eV that are not influenced by sulfurization temperature. In the second stage, effect of the sulfurization time for sulfurization temperature at 560 °C was examined with addition of electrical characterization to the previous characterization methods. EDX results demonstrated that Zn-loss took place at higher dwell time of reaction (300 s). XRD data showed that increasing the sulfurization time above 1 s enhances the crystalline quality and contributes to form much purer CZTS structure. Raman spectroscopy confirmed presence of CZTS phase. Optical band gap values (1.45–1.48 eV) and electrical properties of the CZTS thin films were strongly influenced by [Cu]/[Sn] atomic ratio and presence of Cu–S based secondary phase. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

CZTS thin film was prepared by a two-stage process comprising sputter deposition of metallic Cu, Zn, and Sn layers followed annealing treatment of the metallic precursors in a sulfur atmosphere at 560 °C for 3 min. The CZTS thin film was investigated in the way of structural, optical and electrical properties. The XRD pattern of Cu-poor and Zn-rich CZTS thin film was dominated by characteristic peaks of kesterite CZTS planes. Raman spectra of the film ensured formation of kesterite CZTS phase and displayed formation of CTS and ZnS phases. Dense and polycrystalline surface features were observed in SEM images of CZTS thin film. Band–band transitions was not observed due to the probable concentration of deep acceptor levels in this material. The diode parameters of Mo/CZTS/Al structure such as ideality factor, barrier height and serial resistance were calculated employing temperature dependent I–V characteristics of Mo/CZTS/Al diode structure. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

In this study CZTS thin films were grown by a two-stage process that involved sequential sputter deposition of metallic Cu, Zn, and Sn layers on Mo coated glass substrates followed by RTP annealing in a sulfur atmosphere at background gas pressures in the range of 1–2 atm. Sulfurization was carried out in a mini reaction volume that provided a relatively S-limited environment. Reacted films were characterized using XRD, EDX, SEM, photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy. It was found that, under the S-limited regime provided in these experiments the Cu-S secondary phase formation was most extreme in the sample grown at 1.5 atm, whereas films grown at lower and higher pressures showed much smaller degree of phase separation. Reaction at 2 atm yielded a compound film that was the closest to the initial precursor in terms of its composition. SEM micrographs showed rough morphology and polycrystalline structure that changed with the sulfurization pressure. The optical band gap of the films as determined by photoluminescence was found to be about 1.37 eV. These experiments demonstrated the importance of the sulfurization pressure as well as the size of the reactor internal volume in determining secondary phase formation in two-stage processed CZTS layers. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

In this study CZTSe thin film were synthesized by a two-stage process that included sequential sputter deposition of Cu and Sn layers forming a Cu/Sn structure, pre-annealing the Cu/Sn structure at 200–380 °C for some of the samples, sputtering of additional Zn and Cu over the Cu/Sn structure, evaporation of a Se cap forming a Cu/Sn/Zn/Cu/Se precursor film, and exposing the precursor film to high temperature annealing treatment at 550 °C for 15 min to form the compound. The results of the characterization carried out on the compound layers revealed that the phase content, composition and microstructure of these layers changed noticeably depending on whether or not a pre-annealing step was utilized. Although XRD studies suggested presence of secondary phases, especially in the non-pre-annealed samples, the data was dominated by kesterite CZTSe phase reflections. Raman spectra of the films verified the formation of kesterite CZTSe structure and some other phases, which were determined to be SnSe 2 and possibly ZnSe. SEM micrographs showed denser structure in the pre-annealed samples. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

In this study, kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) absorber layers were fabricated by DC magnetron sputtering deposition of metallic Cu-Zn-Sn precursors, followed by an annealing treatment in sulfur vapor atmosphere at 600 °C for 3 min using rapid thermal processing (RTP). Three types of stacked metallic films were prepared and included pre-annealing of Cu-Sn stacks in order to induce preferential Cu-Sn alloying. The chemical composition of the sulfurized films was obtained by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) before and after etching the samples in KCN solution. All CZTS thin films are found to be Cu-poor and Zn-rich. Structural characterizations were performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy to investigate the impact of pre-annealing on the structural properties of the precursors and final CZTS films. Glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES) shows that pre-annealing of the precursors can improve depth homogeneity of the CZTS films. Photoluminescence spectra and the optical band gap energy values are compatible with literature. Selected samples were processed to solar cells and characterized., Turkish Council of Higher Education (YOK)

In this work, Cu2SnS3 thin films were synthesized by soft-annealing treatment of Cu and Sn film layers at various temperatures (200, 250, 300, and 350 °C) deposited on molybdenum-coated glass (Mo/Cu/Sn) employing sequential sputter deposition technique followed by sulfurization process at 550 °C utilizing RTP. Effect of the soft-annealing treatment and temperature on the compositional, structural and optical properties of CTS thin film was examined using EDX, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and optical spectroscopy techniques. All CTS films demonstrated Cu-poor composition regardless of the soft-annealing treatment according to EDX measurements. Irrespective of the soft-annealing temperature, all samples showed formation of monoclinic crystal structure of CTS phase and some secondary phases in their XRD patterns. It was found that the sample soft-annealed at 250 °C had more desired crystalline quality amongst the other prepared samples. Formation of the CTS structure was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy measurements. SEM images of the samples demonstrated denser and smoother microstructure by raising the soft-annealing temperature up to 250 °C. Optical band gap of the films showed variation between 0.85 eV and 0.90 eV that may be influenced by crystalline quality of the films.

ZnO microrods were fabricated on ZnO-coated SnO 2 glass substrates by spray pyrolysis method. To obtain p - n heterojunction, p type CdTe and ZnTe layers were deposited on ZnO microrods. The structural characterizations demonstrated that ZnO microrods have a hexagonal wurtzite structure with vertically aligned rod morphology. Additionally, hexagonal rod geometry was compressed by coating CdTe layer on micro-sized ZnO rods. The diode type rectifying behaviour of ZnO microrods/CdTe and ZnO microrods/ZnTe heterojunctions have been carried out and the electrical characteristics of both devices have been analyzed with current-voltage measurements as a function of temperature. Although the mismatch between ZnO and ZnTe, the ZnO microrods/ZnTe heterojunction showed good rectifying behaviour at all temperatures. According to the our findings, both ideality factor n and barrier heightΦ b are temperature-dependent due to the deviation from pure thermionic emission theory and inhomogeneity at the interface of ZnO-CdTe and ZnO-ZnTe.

In this study Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) compound layers were grown using a two-stage technique that involved deposition of metallic precursors (Cu, Zn, and Sn) and Se in the first stage, followed by reaction of all the species at temperatures between 525 °C and 600 °C, during the second stage of the process. Two sets of samples, one with Cu-poor, Zn-rich and the other with Cu-rich, Zn-rich compositions, were prepared and their structural, optical and electrical properties were measured. XRD analyses showed the characteristic peaks of CZTSe regardless of the Cu content and the processing temperature. However, for samples reacted at temperatures of 575 °C and 600 °C a Cu2-xSe secondary phase separation was detected for all films suggesting that the reaction temperatures should be limited to values below 575 °C in a two-stage process such as ours. Excessive Sn loss was also present in samples processed at the highest temperatures. Raman scattering measurements confirmed formation of the CZTSe kesterite structure, and also indicated a small ZnSe phase, which could not be detected by XRD. Scanning electron micrographs demonstrated dense film structure with the Cu-rich films having smoother morphology. Optical characterization showed that increasing the Cu content in the compound layers caused a reduction in the optical band gap values due to increased interaction between the Cu-3d orbital electrons and the Se-4p orbital electrons. Electrical measurements showed that the carrier concentration increased with Cu content.