Effect of calcination temperature on the properties of CZTS absorber layer prepared by RF sputtering for solar cell applications

In present work, we report synthesis of nanocrystalline Kesterite copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) films by RF magnetron sputtering method. Influence of calcination temperature on structural, morphology, optical, and electrical properties has been investigated. Formation of CZTS has been confirmed by XPS, whereas formation of Kesterite-CZTS films has been confirmed by XRD, TEM, and Raman spectroscopy. It has been observed that crystallinity and average grain size increase with increase in calcination temperature and CZTS crystallites have preferred orientation in (112) direction. NC-AFM analysis revealed the formation of uniform, densely packed, and highly interconnected network of grains of CZTS over the large area. Furthermore, surface roughness of CZTS films increases with increase in calcination temperature. Optical bandgap estimated using UV-Visible spectroscopy decreases from 1.91 eV for as-deposited CZTS film to 1.59 eV for the film calcinated at 400 °C which is quite close to optimum value of bandgap for energy conversion in visible region. The photo response shows a significant improvement with increase in calcinations temperature. The employment these films in solar cells can improve the conversion efficiency by reducing recombination rate of photo-generated charge carriers due to larger grain size. However, further detail study is needed before its realization in the solar cells. © The Author(s) 2017.