The effect of annealing conditions: temperature, time, ramping rate and atmosphere on nanocrystal Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin film solar cell properties

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanoparticles were fabricated successfully using the hot injection method; CZTS films were deposited by spin coating of nanocrystal ink. The aim of this work is to study the effect of annealing parameters: temperature, time, ramping rate and atmosphere on CZTS thin film structure and optical properties. XRD, Raman Spectroscopy, SEM, EDX mapping are used to analyse the films and they demonstrate the increase in quality and improvement in the crystallinity of CZTS and the homogeneity of elements which is one of the important factors for CZTS thin film solar cells. The crystallinity, structure and chemical composition of CZTS thin films increased and improved under annealing in H2S+N-2 atmosphere which demonstrated that annealing at 500 degrees C for 1 h with a ramping rate of 10 degrees C/min under H2S+N-2 atmosphere is a suitable condition for the fabrication of CZTS thin films used in solar cell devices. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.