Hydrazine processed Cu₂SnS₃ thin film and their application for photovoltaic devices

Abstract

Copper tin sulfide (Cu₂SnS₃) was a potential earth abundant absorber material for photovoltaic device application. In this contribution, triclinic Cu₂SnS₃ film with phase pure composition and large grain size was fabricated from a hydrazine solution process using Cu, Sn and S as the precursors. Absorption measurement revealed this Cu₂SnS₃ film had a direct optical band gap of 0.88 eV, and Hall effect measurement indicated the film was p-type with hole mobility of 0.86 cm²/Vs. Finally Mo/Cu₂SnS₃/CdS/ZnO/AZO/Au was produced and the best device efficiency achieved was 0.78%. Also, this device showed improved device performance during ambient storage. This study laid some foundation for the further improvement of Cu₂SnS₃ solar cell.

Keywords

copper tin sulfide (Cu₂SnS₃) / solar cell / hydrazine / solution process / triclinic

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61274055, 61322401, 61006065, 61076039 and 61204065), National 1000 Young Talents project and theβFundamental ResearchβFunds forβtheβCentralβUniversities (HUST: 0118187043). The authors thank the Analytical and Testing Center of Huazhong University of Sciences and Technology (HUST) and the Center of Micro-Fabrication and Characterization (CMFC) of Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO) for facility access. We would also like to acknowledge Innovative Technology and Beijing Technol Science Co. Ltd for glovebox and thermal evaporator technical assistance, respectively.

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg