Structural, morphological and optical properties of Cu2SnS 3 thin film synthesized by spin coating technique

Abstract

In this paper, Cu2SnS3 film with about 600 nm thickness was successfully prepared, for the first time, by one step sol-gel spin coating route on glass substrate. The sample was characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-vis spectroscopy. The X-ray diffraction result showed that the obtained layer was composed by Cu2SnS3 phase and has a tetragonal (I-42m) structure with (112) preferential orientation. The grain size calculated with Scherrer's formula was about 5 nm. The AFM and SEM studies reveal that the synthesized film is rough and compact without any visible cracks or pores. The film has high absorbance in the visible range (α > 5104 cm-1 at 2.88 eV) and direct band gap energy of 1.34 eV. This makes the material as a good candidate for low cost and friendly environment thin film solar cells. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.