Photoluminescence investigation of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film solar cells

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is a promising absorber for thin film solar cells which is non-toxic and consists of only abundant elements. In order to achieve higher solar cell efficiencies for this material, a better understanding about its defect structure is necessary. In this paper photoluminescence (PL) from sputtered CZTS thin film solar cells which differ in buffer layer thickness was studied. In the PL spectra three broad peaks could be distinguished between 0.9 and 1.3 eV. The PL measurements as a function of temperature and excitation power density revealed the presence of potential fluctuations. The separations between the band edge of the photoluminescence excitation signal and the PL emission peaks are large, which indicates that PL involves trapping of carriers by deep-level defects. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.