On the Sn loss from thin films of the material system Cu–Zn–Sn–S in high vacuum

Abstract

In this paper the Sn loss from thin films of the material system Cu–Zn–Sn–S and the subsystems Cu–Sn–S and Sn–S in high vacuum is investigated. A combination of in situ x-ray diffractometry and x-ray fluorescence (XRF) at a synchrotron light source allowed identifying phases, which tend to decompose and evaporate a Sn-containing compound. On the basis of the XRF results a quantification of the Sn loss from the films during annealing experiments is presented. It can be shown that the evaporation rate from the different phases decreases according to the order SnS→Cu2SnS3→Cu4SnS4→Cu2ZnSnS4. The phase SnS is assigned as the evaporating compound. The influence of an additional inert gas component on the Sn loss and on the formation of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films is discussed.