Structural, optical and electrical properties of indium doped Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 thin films synthesized by the DC and RF reactive magnetron cosputtering

Abstract Element doping into the Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) absorber is an effective method to optimize the performance of thin film solar cells. In this study, the Cu2InxZn1-xSn(S,Se)4 (CIZTSSe) precursor film was deposited by magnetron cosputtering technique using indium (In) and quaternary Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) as targets. Meanwhile, the In content was controlled using the direct current (DC) power on In target (PIn). A single kesterite CIZTSSe alloy was formed by successfully doping a small number of In3+ into the main lattice of CZTSSe. The partial Zn2+ cations were substituted by In3+ ions, resulting in improving properties of CZTSSe films. Morphological analysis showed that large grain CIZTSSe films could be obtained by doping In. The well-distributed, smooth, and dense film was obtained when the PIn was 30 W. The band gap of CIZTSSe could be continuously adjusted from 1.27 to 1.05 eV as PIn increased from 0 to 40 W. In addition, the CIZTSSe alloy thin film at PIn = 30 W exhibited the best p-type conductivity with Hall mobility of 6.87 cm2V−1s−1, which is a potential material as the absorption layer of high-performance solar cells.