Uniformity assessment of a 6-inch copper-zinc-tin-sulfide solar cell sputtered from a quaternary compound target

Cu₂ZnSnS₄ solar cells are fabricated following an all-sputtering in line vacuum approach. 6-inch semi-square stainless steel substrates are used. A compositional and structural study of the absorber layer is conducted before and after annealing to assess the uniformity of both the sputtering and the annealing process. It is found that while the precursors are uniform both in morphology and composition, the annealing process introduces differences in grain size and metal content depending on the area considered on the 6-inch substrate. The corresponding solar cell is further divided into 184 small cells of 1cm² to check the performance distribution across the device. Current-voltage characteristics and solar cell parameters are extracted. Natural convection inside the annealing chamber is suggested to affect significantly the heat distribution and a strong correlation between device performance and local temperature can be identified.