Effect of Preparation Condition of Precursor Thin Films on the Properties of CZTS Solar Cells

Nowadays Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) solar cell is attracting a lot of attention as a strong alternative to CIGS solar cell due to nontoxic and inexpensive constituent elements of CZTS. From various processes for the fabrication of CZTS solar cell, solution-based deposition of CZTS thin films is well-known non-vacuum process and many researchers are focusing on this method because of large-area deposition, high-throughput, and efficient material usage. Typically the solution-based process consists of two steps, coating of precursor solution and annealing of the precursor thin films. Unlike vacuum-based deposition, precursor solution contains unnecessary elements except Cu, Zn, Sn, and S in order to form high quality precursor thin films, and thus the precise control of precursor thin film preparation is essential for achieving high efficient CZTS solar cells. In this work, we have investigated the effect of preparation condition of CZTS precursor thin films on the performance of CZTS solar cells. The composition of CZTS precursor solution was controlled for obtaining optimized chemical composition of CZTS absorber layers for high-efficiency solar cells. Pre-annealing process of the CZTS precursor thin films was also investigated to confirm the effect of thermal treatment on chemical composition and carbon residues of CZTS absorber layers. The change of the morphology of CZTS precursor thin film by the preparation condition was also observed.