The effect of annealing conditions: temperature, time, ramping rate and atmosphere on nanocrystal Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin film solar cell properties

Altowairqi, Y.; Alsubaie, A.; Stroh, K.P.; Perez-Marin, I.G.; Bowen, L.; Szablewski, M.; Halliday, D.P.

Abstract

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanoparticles were fabricated successfully using the hot injection method; CZTS films were deposited by spin coating of nanocrystal ink. The aim of this work is to study the effect of annealing parameters: temperature, time, ramping rate and atmosphere on CZTS thin film structure and optical properties. XRD, Raman Spectroscopy, SEM, EDX mapping are used to analyse the films and they demonstrate the increase in quality and improvement in the crystallinity of CZTS and the homogeneity of elements which is one of the important factors for CZTS thin film solar cells. The crystallinity, structure and chemical composition of CZTS thin films increased and improved under annealing in H2S+N2 atmosphere which demonstrated that annealing at 500 oC for 1 h with a ramping rate of 10 oC/min under H2S+N2 atmosphere is a suitable condition for the fabrication of CZTS thin films used in solar cell devices.

Citation

Altowairqi, Y., Alsubaie, A., Stroh, K., Perez-Marin, I., Bowen, L., Szablewski, M., & Halliday, D. (2019). The effect of annealing conditions: temperature, time, ramping rate and atmosphere on nanocrystal Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin film solar cell properties. Materials Today: Proceedings, 18(2), 473-486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.06.234

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 13, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Aug 30, 2019
• Publication Date: Aug 30, 2019
• Deposit Date: Sep 2, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 30, 2020
• Journal: Materials Today: Proceedings
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 18
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 473-486
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.06.234