CZTS

CZTS
x
CZTS crystal structure. Orange: Cu, grey: Zn/Fe, blue: Sn, yellow: S.
Names
Other names
copper zinc tin sulfide
Identifiers
Properties
Cu2ZnSnS4
Molar mass 439.471 g/mol
Appearance Greenish black crystals
Density 4.56 g/cm3[1]
Melting point 990 °C (1,810 °F; 1,260 K)[4]
Band gap 1.4–1.5 eV[2][3]
Structure
Tetragonal[1]
a = 0.5435 nm, c = 1.0843 nm, Z = 2
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).

Copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) is a quaternary semiconducting compound which has received increasing interest since the late 2000s for applications in thin film solar cells. The class of related materials includes other I2-II-IV-VI4 such as copper zinc tin selenide (CZTSe) and the sulfur-selenium alloy CZTSSe. CZTS offers favorable optical and electronic properties similar to CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide), making it well suited for use as a thin-film solar cell absorber layer, but unlike CIGS (or other thin films such as CdTe), CZTS is composed of only abundant and non-toxic elements. Concerns with the price and availability of indium in CIGS and tellurium in CdTe, as well as toxicity of cadmium have been a large motivator to search for alternative thin film solar cell materials. The power conversion efficiency of CZTS is still considerably lower than CIGS and CdTe, with laboratory cell records of 11.0 % for CZTS and 12.6 % for CZTSSe as of 2019.[5]

  1. ^ a b Guen, L.; Glaunsinger, W.S. (1980). "Electrical, magnetic, and EPR studies of the quaternary chalcogenides Cu2AIIBIVX4 prepared by iodine transport". Journal of Solid State Chemistry. 35 (1): 10–21. Bibcode:1980JSSCh..35...10G. doi:10.1016/0022-4596(80)90457-0.
  2. ^ Ichimura, Masaya; Nakashima, Yuki (2009). "Analysis of Atomic and Electronic Structures of Cu2ZnSnS4 Based on First-Principle Calculation". Japanese Journal of Applied Physics. 48 (9): 090202. Bibcode:2009JaJAP..48i0202I. doi:10.1143/JJAP.48.090202. S2CID 97102555.
  3. ^ Katagiri, Hironori; Saitoh, Kotoe; Washio, Tsukasa; Shinohara, Hiroyuki; Kurumadani, Tomomi; Miyajima, Shinsuke (2001). "Development of thin film solar cell based on Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films". Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. 65 (1–4): 141–148. doi:10.1016/S0927-0248(00)00088-X.
  4. ^ Matsushita, H.; Ichikawa, T.; Katsui, A. (2005). "Structural, thermodynamical and optical properties of Cu2-II-IV-VI4 quaternary compounds". Journal of Materials Science. 40 (8): 2003–2005. Bibcode:2005JMatS..40.2003M. doi:10.1007/s10853-005-1223-5. S2CID 100713002.
  5. ^ Grini, Sigbjørn (2019). Band gap grading and impurities in Cu2ZnSnS4 solar cells (PhD thesis). University of Oslo.