Impact of KCN etching on the chemical and electronic surface structure of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin-film solar cell absorbers

The chemical and electronic surface structure of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin-film solar cell absorbers has been investigated by direct and inverse photoemission. Particular emphasis was placed on the impact of KCN etching, which significantly alters the surface composition and is best explained by a preferred etching of Cu and, to a lesser degree, Sn. As a consequence the surface band gap increased from (1.53 +/- 0.15) eV, which agrees with optically derived bulk band gap values, to (1.91 +/- 0.15) eV. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics, [doi :10.1063/13650717]