UC Santa Cruz

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin-film photovoltaics is an increasingly important area of

research for solar energy due to the high abundance and low toxicity of the elements used. A series of chemical vapor depositions (CVDs) with copper, tin, and zinc precursors were carried out to create layered thin films on quartz substrates. The viability of creating CZTS using these precursors was examined. As far as the author is aware, no work has yet been published on creating CZTS using the particular tin precursor that was used here, Dibutyltin Diacetate. Four different precursor stacking sequences were examined. Depositions were characterized using atomic force microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and four-point resistivity measurements. It was found that the ordering of precursors has a significant effect on the properties of the resulting thin films. The band gap energies were found to range from 1.08 eV to 2.02 eV.