Influence of sulfurization conditions on properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 films and cells

The influences of sulfurization process on Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) film characters were investigated through soft-annealing and sulfurization precursors, which were prepared by sputtering at room temperature with metal targets and sulfide targets. The Sn-loss of CZTS film was researched by comparing different CZTS films based on metallic precursors and sulfur-contained precursors. As a result, the CZTS film based on metallic precursors showed more serious Sn-loss than that from sulfur-contained precursors. Moreover, the experimental results also demonstrated that an appropriate temperature-time profile during sulfuring process can act as a crucial factor on the morphologies and Sn-loss of CZTS films, and the CZTS films with fine morphologies and appropriate composition were obtained by modifying the time-temperature profile during sulfurization process. Finally, the best solar cell with efficiency of 2.81% was obtained based on the metallic precursor.