Electrical and Computer Engineering Commons^™

Synthesis And Characterization Of Kesterite Cu2znsns4 (Czts) Thin Films For Solar Cell Application, Mohamed M.A. Abusnina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The quaternary compound Cu₂ZnSnS₄ (CZTS) gained considerable attention in the last decade due to its potential as an active-layer semiconductor for low-cost thin-film solar cells. The material is composed of nontoxic and Earth-abundant constituents, has optical properties suitable for photovoltaic application, and can be synthesized using a wide variety of methods.

Polycrystalline CZTS was grown in this work using vacuum-based deposition to first deposit metal films (precursors) of Cu, Zn, and Sn. In a subsequent step, the precursors underwent an annealing treatment in sulfur vapor environment (sulfurization) to form CZTS. Using sputtering, a physical vapor deposition (PVD) …