Abstract:
CZTS (Cu2ZnSnS4) is a relatively new and promising semiconductor material
suitable for photovoltaic applications due to its favorable optoelectronic properties.
Of the many techniques available for growing these films, a comparative
study on sequential and single-step electrodeposition methods to grow CZTS
films is carried out in this investigation to explore the possibility of improving the
quality of the films using the inexpensive electrodeposition technique. Mainly in
both methods, potentiostatic electrodeposition technique is adopted for growing
CZTS thin films. In both methods, growth conditions of the CZTS films are
optimized after measuring the photoresponses in a photoelectrochemical (PEC)
cell of the films that resulted at the end of each deposition step. The observed
structural and optoelectronic properties of the films reveal that, in general,
structurally good and photoactive CZTS films can be prepared using both
methods. Moreover, photoresponse and Mott–Schottky measurements on CZTS
films in a PEC reveal that CZTS films prepared using the single-step electrodeposition
have better photoactive properties and improved doping densities.
This important finding shows that when developing CZTS-based solar cells using
the inexpensive electrodeposition technique, single-step electrodeposition is
more advantageous.
