Sulfurization studies of the potential thin film solar absorber Cu2ZnSnS4

A study of the sulfurization conditions for synthesizing a next generation solar absorber, Cu
₂
ZnSnS
₄
, is presented. As-deposited metal film stacks were either vacuum annealed or directly sulfurized under different sulfurization parameters, for comparison. SEM/EDS, XRD, and Raman characterization tools were used to investigate the sulfurized CZTS films. Single phase, relatively uniform CZTS solar absorber films were achieved via this study.