Synthesis and characterization of kesterite Cu₂ZnSnTe₄via ball-milling of elemental powder precursors

Abstract

Cu2ZnSnTe4 was synthesized using mechano-chemical route from its elemental precursors. A homologous series of kesterite light absorber material Cu2ZnSnX4 (X: S, Se, Te) can be used for realization of multi-junction solar cells.

Temperature dependence of electrical properties in $$\hbox {In/Cu}_{{2}}\hbox {ZnSnTe}_{{4}}\hbox {/Si/Ag diodes}$$ In/Cu 2 ZnSnTe 4 /Si/Ag diodes

“…From EDS measurements, the relative atomic percentage of the constituent elements CZTTe thin film layer was obtained as Cu:Zn:Sn:Te = 13:10:21:56% by considering the expected experimental errors of about 1%. In figure 1, XRD measurement of the film sample on a glass substrate showed that the as-grown film layer is in a polycrystalline structure with the main orientation along the (112) plane direction [7,8]. As given in figure 1, the XRD pattern of the deposited film is consistent with the JCPDS cards 01-081-5256 and 01-081-7520, and also with the literature works which indicate the obtained CZTTe profile possibly in the kesterite phase [6,8].…”

“…In fact, among the Cu 2 ZnSnX 4 group of compounds, it was reported that the distribution of Cu, Zn and Sn can cause negligibly small differences in the material properties as band structures, electronic characteristics [9]. Experimentally, similar to S-and Se-based compounds, the structure of this new compound was reported with point group symmetry I42m and the lattice parameters of 0.6088 and 1.2180 nm [1,8].…”

“…Among these materials, Cu-based, Cu 2 -II-IV-VI 4 compounds in a large family of group-II elements with Zn and Cd; and group-IV elements with Ge and Sn, have potential for electronic applications [3][4][5][6][7]. In the search for an environment-friendly and lowcost material, quaternary compounds have been employed to tailor their electronic characteristics for the possible diode applications [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. The study of electronic transport mechanisms across heterostructures has been point of interest as a field of research and potential device applications.…”

“…In the literature, thin film layers have been triggered interest on the metal-semiconductor, metal-insulator-semiconductor and metal-oxide-semiconductor applications in which the observed barrier inhomogeneities are related to non-linearity in temperature dependence of barrier height and ideality factor [3,4]. Among them, in thin film technology, Te-based compounds in this family have been less studied than their sulphide and selenide counterparts [6][7][8][9][10]. Most of the works on thin films in the form of Cu 2 ZnSnTe 4 (CZTTe) were concentrated on their thermo-electric characteristics [6][7][8][9].…”

“…Among them, in thin film technology, Te-based compounds in this family have been less studied than their sulphide and selenide counterparts [6][7][8][9][10]. Most of the works on thin films in the form of Cu 2 ZnSnTe 4 (CZTTe) were concentrated on their thermo-electric characteristics [6][7][8][9]. Herein we studied, for the first time to our knowledge, diode characteristics in tetrahedrally coordinated quaternary CZTTe thin films deposited by DC/RF sputtering using stacked precursors on a one-sided polished n-Si wafer substrate.…”