Investigation of blister formation in sputtered Cu{sub 2}ZnSnS{sub 4} absorbers for thin film solar cells

Blister formation in Cu{sub 2}ZnSnS{sub 4} (CZTS) thin films sputtered from a quaternary compound target is investigated. While the thin film structure, composition, and substrate material are not correlated to the blister formation, a strong link between sputtering gas entrapment, in this case argo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of vacuum science & technology. A, Vacuum, surfaces, and films Vacuum, surfaces, and films, 2015-11, Vol.33 (6)
Main Authors: Bras, Patrice, Sterner, Jan, Platzer-Björkman, Charlotte
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ANNEALING
ARGON
ATOMS
BLISTERS
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
FABRICATION
LAYERS
QUATERNARY ALLOY SYSTEMS
QUATERNARY AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
SOLAR CELLS
SPUTTERING
SUBSTRATES
THIN FILMS
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Summary:Blister formation in Cu{sub 2}ZnSnS{sub 4} (CZTS) thin films sputtered from a quaternary compound target is investigated. While the thin film structure, composition, and substrate material are not correlated to the blister formation, a strong link between sputtering gas entrapment, in this case argon, and blistering effect is found. It is shown that argon is trapped in the film during sputtering and migrates to locally form blisters during the high temperature annealing. Blister formation in CZTS absorbers is detrimental for thin film solar cell fabrication causing partial peeling of the absorber layer and potential shunt paths in the complete device. Reduced sputtering gas entrapment, and blister formation, is seen for higher sputtering pressure, higher substrate temperature, and change of sputtering gas to larger atoms. This is all in accordance with previous publications on blister formation caused by sputtering gas entrapment in other materials.
ISSN:0734-2101
1520-8559
DOI:10.1116/1.4926754