Growth of Cu2ZnSnSe4 single crystals from Sn solutions

We investigated the pseudobinary phase diagram of the Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe)-Sn system in order to obtain the knowledge useful for the growth of high-quality CZTSe single crystals using a solution-based method. For Sn solutions saturated with less than similar to 60 mol% CZTSe, the solutes are separated into two phases, whereas for Sn solutions with more than 60 mol% CZTSe, the solutes are of single phase. The CZTSe single crystals were obtained from a 80 mol% CZTSe solution (liquid temperature 850 degrees C) at 900 degrees C. The powder X-ray diffraction pattern of the CZTSe single crystal shows preferred orientations of (112), (220) and (312) planes, confirming the Kesterite structure of CZTSe. The Raman spectrum shows three peaks at 170, 193 and 231 cm(-1), which correspond to CZTSe peaks. The composition of the CZTSe single crystal along the growth direction is found to be slightly Cu-poor, Zn-rich and Se-rich. Therefore, we obtained good-quality homogeneous CZTSe single crystal grown by Sn solutions. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.