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Synthesis of Bulk Kesterite – A Prospective Photovoltaic Material
Author(s) -
Podsiadlo Slawomir,
Bialoglowski Maciej,
Matyszczak Grzegorz,
Marek Paulina,
Gebicki Wojciech,
Bacewicz Rajmund,
Stachowicz Marcin,
Dluzewski Piotr,
Wozniak Krzysztof
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
european journal of inorganic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1099-0682
pISSN - 1434-1948
DOI - 10.1002/ejic.201402392
Subject(s) - kesterite , band gap , photovoltaics , czts , semiconductor , chemistry , photovoltaic system , copper indium gallium selenide solar cells , optoelectronics , direct and indirect band gaps , nanotechnology , solar cell , materials science , ecology , biology
A rapid development of photovoltaics has been observed recently. Permanent interest in new cheap and efficient photovoltaic devices stimulates a constant search for new semiconductor materials and structures. The success of materials based on CIGS (CuIn 1– x Ga x Se 2 ) is limited by the prohibitive prices of the elements In and Ga. A family of quaternary semiconducting materials of the Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 type, crystallizing mainly in the kesterite structure, offers a promise of new cheap photovoltaic materials. Kesterite is manufactured from nontoxic and naturally abundant materials. The energy gap of Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 is about 1.5 eV, and the absorption coefficient of this direct‐band‐gap material is α > 10 4 cm –1 for photon energies higher than the energy gap. In this paper, we report a method of obtaining free‐standing single crystals of kesterite (Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 ).