Fabrication of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films by microwave assisted sol-gel method. (February 2019) - Qiu, Lei
Abstract: CZTS thin films were prepared by adding microwave radiation to the sol-gel method. Microwave treatment was performed after sol-gel drying process. The CZTS thin films were analyzed by XRD, Raman, SEM, and UV–Vis spectrophotometer to investigate the influence of microwave irradiation time. The results showed that the microwave treatment promoted the initial formation of the CZTS phase. The crystallinity of the CZTS thin film was improved during the subsequent annealing. With the increase of microwave treatment time, the crystallinity of the annealed CZTS thin films first enhanced and then decreased. When the microwave treatment time was 25 min, the CZTS thin films reached the highest crystallinity with the maximum particle size of about 500 nm. EDS analysis indicated that the compositions of thin films showed Cu-poor properties. The direct optical band gaps of CZTS thin films were 1.58–1.61 eV. The experimental results revealed that the microwave radiation method could improve the properties of sol-gel processed CZTS thin films. Highlights: CZTS thin films were prepared by a microwave assisted sol-gel method. The effects of microwave treatment time on the film were studied. The properties of CZTS thin films were improved by microwave radiation.