Structural, optical and electrical properties of spray-deposited CZTS thin films under a non-equilibrium growth condition

Patel, Malkeshkumar; Mukhopadhyay, Indrajit; Ray, Abhijit

doi:10.1088/0022-3727/45/44/445103

Cited by 152 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Sheet resistance and resistivity of the film at room temperature were measured as 244 Ω/□ and 0.024 Ω·cm, respectively. Patel et al obtained similar results for CZTS prepared by a spray pyrolysis technique [65]. The type of conductivity was determined as p-type via Hall effect measurements.…”

Section: Electrical Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 73%

Growth of Cu2ZnSnS4 absorber layer on flexible metallic substrates for thin film solar cell applications

et al. 2015

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In this work, Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) absorber layers were fabricated using a two-stage process. Sequentially deposited Cu-Zn-Sn thin film layers on metallic foils were annealed in an Ar + S 2(g) atmosphere. We aimed to investigate the role of flexible titanium and molybdenum foil substrates in the growth mechanism of CZTS thin films. The Raman spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses of the sulfurized thin films revealed that, except for the presence of Sn-based secondary phases, nearly pure CZTS thin films were obtained. Additionally, the intense and sharp X-ray diffraction peak from the (112) plane provided evidence of good crystallinity. Electron dispersive spectroscopy analysis indicated sufficient sulfur content but poor Zn atomic weight percentage in the films. Absorption and band-gap energy analyses were carried out to confirm the suitability of CZTS thin films as the absorber layer in solar cell applications. Hall effect measurements showed the p-type semiconductor behavior of the CZTS samples. Moreover, the back contact behavior of these metallic flexible substrates was investigated and compared. We detected formation of cracks in the CZTS layer on the molybdenum foils, which indicates the incompatibility of molybdenum's thermal expansion coefficient with the CZTS structure. We demonstrated the application of the magnetron sputtering technique for the fabrication of CZTS thin films on titanium foils having lightweight, flexible properties and suitable for roll-to-roll manufacturing for high throughput fabrication. Titanium foils are also cost competitive compared to molybdenum foils.

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Section: Electrical Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 73%

Growth of Cu2ZnSnS4 absorber layer on flexible metallic substrates for thin film solar cell applications

et al. 2015

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“…[49][50][51][52][53] The growth of nanocrystalline CuO thin film can be manipulated by the pyrolysis of aqueous CuCl 2 precursor in the temperature range of 300-400 • C in ambient air according to the following reaction:…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Highly Photoactive and Photo-Stable Spray Pyrolyzed Tenorite CuO Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion

Patel

Pati

Marathey

et al. 2016

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Tenorite CuO thin films have been synthesized via spray pyrolysis of aqueous copper(II) chloride solution followed by heat-treatment, exhibited a photocurrent density of 24 mA cm −2 at 0.25 V vs. RHE under AM 1.5G solar irradiation in alkaline electrolyte. This large photocurrent density has been attributed to a drift assisted transport of photo-generated electrons across the semiconductor/electrolyte interface in the annealed films. The tendency of photo-corrosion from the surface of CuO has been reduced substantially without any extra protective layer, simply by adding K 3 Fe(CN) 6 in the electrolyte, which acts as a sacrificial excess-electron scavenging agent. The fabricated electrode exhibited a positive onset potential at 0.25 V vs. RHE even after the electrolyte modification and a stable photocurrent density of more than 40% has been retained after 20 minutes of continuous illumination. The processed photocathode showed a solar to chemical conversion efficiency of 7.85% and 21.5% with and without using an electron scavenging agent, respectively. It holds the promise of using this photocathode in PEC energy conversion, photocatalysis and solar water splitting.In the exploration of terrestrially employable carbon-free energy sources, materials play a central role in the generation and storage of electrical as well as chemical energies. 1,2 Semiconducting materials are especially important to harvest the solar energy due to their bandgap energies matching to that of the visible photons. Photovoltaic (PV) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) methods are the two solar energy conversion modes those utilize semiconductor materials. In order to apply semiconductors in PEC applications, three important aspects must be satisfied: first, capability of providing large photocurrent density; second, a long term stability; and third, the scalability. 3 Several semiconductors, such as have been explored in the PEC applications with majority as catalysts for water splitting. The hunt for novel structure and materials design thus continues to set off the above requirements. Oxides of copper (CuO and Cu 2 O) have recently drawn special attention due to their relative abundance on the earth crust. Majority of the recently reported investigations are focused on Cu 2 O. [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] Due to the chemical instability and poor electron transfer, its nano-composites with other oxides or metal catalysts have been attempted. [33][34][35] On the other hand, CuO is chemically more stable than Cu 2 O but there are only few studies on the PEC response of CuO have been reported so far. 36 Among various oxides of copper (viz. Cu 2 O, CuO and Cu 4 O 3 ), tenorite CuO is a chemically stable p-type semiconductors having an indirect bandgap in the range of 1.3-1.7 eV. 37-42 This property makes CuO a promising candidate for solar to chemical energy conversion with maximum possible theoretical photocurrent density in the range of 22-35 mAcm −2 under standard AM 1.5G solar irradiance corresponding to its high and low bandgap values, ...

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“…It allows a rapid and nondestructive evaluation of a photo activity of the 9 CZTS thin films [41]. The detailed PEC parameters are listed in [42]. The short circuit current (I SC ) increases with the increasing Cu concentration.…”

Section: Pec Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of copper concentration on sprayed CZTS thin films deposited at high temperature

Bhosale

Suryawanshi

Kim

et al. 2015

Ceramics International

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Structural, optical and electrical properties of spray-deposited CZTS thin films under a non-equilibrium growth condition

Cited by 152 publications

References 50 publications

Growth of Cu2ZnSnS4 absorber layer on flexible metallic substrates for thin film solar cell applications

Growth of Cu2ZnSnS4 absorber layer on flexible metallic substrates for thin film solar cell applications

Highly Photoactive and Photo-Stable Spray Pyrolyzed Tenorite CuO Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Energy Conversion

Influence of copper concentration on sprayed CZTS thin films deposited at high temperature

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