Electrodeposition of ternary Cu_xSn_yS_z thin films for photovoltaic applications

Abstract

We exploited alternated electrodeposition of Cu, Sn and S to obtain Cu x Sn y S z thin films. These materials are kesterite-type chalcogenides that have attracted a relevant interest from worldwide researchers as low cost and high conversion efficiency solar cell devices. Films were grown on silver substrate, controlling the growth of the electrodeposited structures at the nanometric level. The obtained films were characterized by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, voltammetric stripping and atomic force microscopy. Experimental bandgap energies resulted linearly modulated by changes of chemical composition and thickness. On the basis of these results, we candidate electrodeposition as a room temperature method to obtain thin films for solar cell technology with low energy investment and negligible environmental impact.

Electrodeposited semiconductors at room temperature: an X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy study of Cu-, Zn-, S-bearing thin films

“…At least two prevailing morphologies and two different crystal structures were highlighted by the present SEM-EDX and XAS investigations. On the basis of the experimental results, E-ALD is proposed to progressively cover the Ag (111) surface with a nanometric polycrystalline film consisting of oriented microcrystals, as it has been already proven for several binary and ternary sulphides [22][23][48][49]. The insertion of a unit of ZnS in the deposition sequence apparently induces the formation of nanowires on the film surface.…”

Growth of Cu2SnS3 thin films by a two-stage process: structural, microstructural and optical properties

“…Approaches like annealing of thermally evaporated Cu film on spray-deposited SnS 2 [19], electrodeposited SnS on Cu in sulfur atmosphere [20], binary sulfide layers deposited by chemical bath deposition [8] have also been used to grow CTS thin films. Other chemical methods like spray pyrolysis [21][22][23], dip coating [12], screen printing [24], SILAR [25,26], doctor blade technique [27] and Electro-Chemical Atomic Layer Epitaxy (ECALE) [28] have also been reported.…”

Deposition of CuCdS2 thin film by single step solution process at low temperature as a novel absorber for photovoltaic applications

“…Apart from elemental semiconductors such as Si and Ge, compound semiconductors made of metal sulphides [1,2], metal oxides [3,4] and metal selenides [5,6] captivated many researchers by virtue of their progressive physical properties. For energy harvesting by means of solar power, ternary and quaternary metal chalcogenides play assuring role emanating from their tuneable physical properties by simply varying the composition of its constituent elements [6,7].…”

“…For energy harvesting by means of solar power, ternary and quaternary metal chalcogenides play assuring role emanating from their tuneable physical properties by simply varying the composition of its constituent elements [6,7]. Many research groups working in the field of thin film solar cells (TFSC) have been examining different compound semiconductors [2,8] for effective utilization of solar energy in the past decades, since TFSC have added advantages like availability of low cost fabrication methods, need of small amount of source material and better reproducibility [9]. High efficiency in TFSC was achieved by Cu and Cd based compound semiconductors like CuInGaSe 2 , CuZnSnS 2 , CdTe, CuInSe 2 and Cu x S. CuInGaSe 2 recorded the highest efficiency around 20% in TFSCs among all other compound semiconductors [6].…”