Impact of alloying duration of an electrodeposited Cu/Sn/Zn metallic stack on properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 absorbers for thin‐film solar cells

Abstract The impacts of preheating of an electrodeposited Cu/Sn/Zn (CTZ) stack precursor on structural changes of the CTZ precursor and the impact on structural and electric properties of the finally obtained Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) films are discussed in detail. We found that preheating for relatively long durations improved the qualities of CZTS films: these films were composed of large grains and had compact and flat surface morphologies. The best solar cell with efficiency of 8.1% was obtained on the basis of a CZTS film derived from the CTZ precursor preheated for 200 min. The external quantum efficiency response of the cell indicated efficient utilization of photons with relatively long wavelength regions because of its good structural and electronic properties. On the other hand, a short circuit current density–temperature property of one of the best cells in this study suggested that the CZTS film had deep acceptor levels and/or an appreciable energy barrier to the Mo back contact. Moreover, an open circuit voltage–temperature property of the corresponding device showed activation energy of 1.18 eV, indicating preferential occurrence of CdS–CZTS interface recombination. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.