Cu₂ZnSnS₄ formation by laser annealing in controlled atmosphere

Abstract

Laser annealing is an attractive process to form high- quality semiconductor films because of localized annealing area and short annealing time. In a previous study, a Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) polycrystalline semiconductor film was realized using laser annealing in air as a light absorption layer for solar cells, although the crystallization was not sufficient in comparison with CZTS formed by the conventional thermal sulfurization process. In this study, we demonstrate a newly developed gas-atmosphere-controlled laser annealing system. A Cu-Zn-Sn-S-based precursor was formed, followed by laser annealing of the system. Laser annealing in air, Ar, and 5% H2S/Ar gas was performed to investigate the influence of the gas species on the crystallization of the precursor. A 5% H2S/Ar atmosphere promoted the crystallization of CZTS with the suppression of S desorption and Cu sulfide formation, while air and Ar atmospheres allowed the formation of Cu sulfide.

High-Performance Organic Field-Effect Transistors of Liquid Crystalline Organic Semiconductor by Laser Mapping Annealing

“…Laser annealing, in particular, is a very special kind of heat treatment frequently used for semiconductor devices, showing a quite different way to traditional thermal annealing. It can effectively remove lattice defects caused by ion implantation [ 25 , 26 , 27 ]. Additionally, laser annealing is a type of localized annealing that has been widely studied in device preparation because of its advantages, such as fast annealing speed, low heat accumulation, selectable annealing region, localized thermal effect, and good spatial resolution [ 28 , 29 ].…”