Effect of variation of tin concentration on the properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films deposited using chemical spray pyrolysis

Abstract

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films were prepared using chemical spray pyrolysis technique on soda lime glass (SLG) substrates. The effect of tin concentration on the structural, optical and electrical properties was investigated. We deposited films by varying tin concentration from 0.007 M to 0.013 M in steps of 0.0015 M keeping the concentration of copper, zinc and sulphur at 0.02 M, 0.01 M and 0.12 M respectively. It was found that crystallinity of the film increased up to the tin concentration of 0.01 M and then decreases. Band gap of the films steadily decreased from 1.48 to 1.26 eV with increase in tin concentration. All the samples were observed to be p-type by hot probe method. Resistivity of the films increased with increase in tin concentration. In this work we tuned the optoelectronic properties by varying the tin concentration alone and optimized the concentration of tin which yields samples ideal for photovoltaic applications.