Optoelectronic Properties of Evaporated Earth-Abundant, Kuramite Cu3SnS4 Thin Films for Photovoltaic Cells
[1]
Joseph Abiodun Amusan, Departmentof Physics, University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
[2]
Samuel Ogochukwu Azi, Departmentof Physics, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
The earth-abundant Cu-Sn precursor was thermally evaporated sequentially on microscopic glass slides at substrate temperature of 100°C with control thickness of 100nm and 500nm. The deposited bi-layer of Cu-Sn precursor was then sulphurized at 400°C in a custom-built reactor for 1hour. The deposition was uniformly spread on the microscopic glass substrate. The XRD spectra revealed the crystal structure, phase and lattices as Kuramite, Tetragonal, Polycrystalline Cu3SnS4 [112], d = 3.130 and at 2Ѳ = 28.49°. The SEM revealed a densely packed, pin-hole free Cu3SnS4 thin film of grain size of approximately 2µm. The surface profiler revealed that the evaporated Cu3SnS4 thin film was rough. Ra = 77.85nm and Rq = 99.79nm for Cu3SnS4 films evaporated at 100°C with controlled thickness of 100nm. Ra = 1205.06nm and Rq = 1486.62nm for Cu3SnS4 films evaporated at 100°C with controlled thickness of 500nm. The electrical resistivity of the film was found to be 46.1532Ω-cm. The absorption coefficient is in the order of >105cm-1 and the energy gap, Eg, is 1.46eV. The refractive index, n is in the range of 5.5 – 6.03. Hence, evaporated Cu3SnS4 thin film is proposed as good potential material suitable for non-toxic, low cost, earth abundant absorber layer of solar cell.
Coefficient of Absorbance, Electrical Resistivity, Energy Gap, Glass Substrate, Sulphurization, Thermal Evaporation
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