SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF Cu2SnSe3 THIN FILMS COMPOUND USED IN THE FABRICATION OF SOLAR CELLS

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the development of materials used in the fabrication of solar cells based on Kesterite type compounds which are being widely investigated because they possess excellent photovoltaic properties and their precursor elements are nontoxic, inexpensive and abundant in nature. We present details of the synthesis and optimization of optical and structural properties of the ternary Cu2SnSe3 (CTSe) compound which is used as a precursor in the synthesis of the Cu2ZnSnSe4. The CTSe compound is formed by a solid state reaction of the metal precursors sequentially evaporated in the presence of elemental selenium, in a two stage process. The optimization of the properties of the CTSe was achieved studying the eéct of synthesis parameters on optical, electrical and structural properties through spectral transmittance, electrical conductivity and X-ray diffraction measurements. The results indicated that these compounds grow with cubic structure and have an optical bandgap of 1.6 eV