Effect of the substrate temperature on the synthesis of the Cu2CoSnS4 thin films by spray pyrolysis for solar cells devices

International audienceCu2CoSnS4 (CCTS) thin films were directly prepared on glass substrates by chemical spray pyrolysis using distilled water as a solved age nt under air ambiant. The X-ray diffraction analyses show that the CCTS thin films crystallize in stannite structurewith a preferential orientation [112] from 280 to 360 °C. In addition, it is observed the crystallization of secondary phases mainly based on binary sulfides forming coarser nodules for all thin films. The surface morphology exhibits a granular, rough and compact topography. The magnitudes of the absorption coefficientfor all the CCTS films are higher than 104 cm−1 in the visible range while the CCTS thin film deposited at 320 °C exhibits a band gap of 1.75 eV near than that those reported in the literature (~ 1.23–1.50 eV) and an electrical resistivity at room temperature of about 0.4 × 10–2 Ω.cm. Such optical and electrical propertiessuggest its use as an absorber layer in low cost solar cells