Preparation and studies of chemically deposited Cu₄SnS₄thin films in the presence of complexing agent Na₂EDTA

Abstract

The Cu₄SnS₄ thin films are deposited onto indium tin oxide glass substrate by chemical bath deposition method. The disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is used as a complexing agent during deposition process. The structural, morphological and optical properties of the deposited films have been studied using X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy and UV-Vis spectrophotometer, respectively. The presence of Na₂EDTA promotes the deposition of better quality films. The XRD analysis shows that these films have a high crystallinity with orthorhombic structure. The AFM images indicated that these films are uniform, compact with larger grains. The absorption spectra confirmed that the thicker film has higher absorption properties. The band gap of 1.6 eV with direct transition is observed.