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Atmospheric Modified Thiol-Based Solution Deposition for Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Absorber Layer

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Abstract

Abandoning the traditional deposition of as-prepared Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films in a glove box, a modified thiol-based solution system suitable for deposition in air is described to further reduce device production costs. In this modified approach, metal salts and thiourea are used as the starting materials and are dissolved in a mixed solution of thioglycolic acid and 2-methoxyethanol, forming a homogeneous precursor solution. The as-deposited CZTS thin films are obtained by spin-coating the precursor solution in air, followed by the selenization process to form large-grained Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 thin films. Combining the microstructural results with compositional analyses, the optimal selenization conditions for the Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 absorber layer were found to be 540°C and 10 min.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61804085), Research Program of Science and Technology at Universities of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (Grant No. NJYT-19-B07), Starting Research Projects of Inner Mongolia Normal University (Grant No. 2017YJRC033), National Students’ Platform for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program (Grant No. 201810135002), and Graduate Scientific Research Innovation Program of Inner Mongolia Education Department (Grant No. S2018111961Z).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory for Physics and Chemistry of Functional Materials, School of Physics and Electronic Information, Inner Mongolia Normal University, 81 Zhaowuda Road, Huhhot, 010022, Inner Mongolia, China

    Ruilan Chen, Guonan Cui, Yanchun Yang, Yuemin Li, H. Alata, Xiao Tian & O. Tegus

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  1. Ruilan Chen
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  2. Guonan Cui
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Correspondence to Yanchun Yang or O. Tegus.

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Chen, R., Cui, G., Yang, Y. et al. Atmospheric Modified Thiol-Based Solution Deposition for Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Absorber Layer. J. Electron. Mater. 49, 6208–6213 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-020-08375-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-020-08375-5

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