3D sputtering simulations of the CZTS, Si and CIGS thin films using Monte-Carlo method

Abstract

Abstract The future of the industry development depends greatly on the permanently ensured energy needs and can be achieved only through the use of a variety of sustainable energy sources where the solar energy, which gains its optimal exploitation directly by linking it to the properties of solar cells and in particular to the crystallographic quality of the used semiconductor substrates, is one of them. Many growth processes are used to obtain a high quality of semiconductor formation and deposition, among them the DC sputtering. In this work, based on the Monte-Carlo method, a 3D DC sputtering simulation of the CZTS {\mathrm{CZTS}} , Si {\mathrm{Si}} and CIGS {\mathrm{CIGS}} semiconductors thin film formation is proposed by considering Argon as vacuum chamber bombardment gas. We extrapolate firstly the best sputtering yield possible of the semiconductors CZTS {\mathrm{CZTS}} and Silicon represented by their chemical formulas Cu 2 ⁢ ZnSnS 4 {\mathrm{Cu}_{2}\mathrm{Zn}\mathrm{Sn}\mathrm{S}_{4}} and Si {\mathrm{Si}} , respectively, by the application of different energies and incidence angles. From the obtained results, firstly we deduce that the best sputtering angle is 85 ∘ {85^{\circ}} ; in the same time, CZTS {\mathrm{CZTS}} is more efficient comparing to the Si {\mathrm{Si}} . Secondly, with the application of this angle ( 85 ∘ {85^{\circ}} ) in the sputtering process for the CZTS {\mathrm{CZTS}} ( Cu 2 ⁢ ZnSnS 4 {\mathrm{Cu}_{2}\mathrm{Zn}\mathrm{Sn}\mathrm{S}_{4}} ) and CIGS {\mathrm{CIGS}} represented by its chemical formula CuIn x ⁢ Ga ( 1 - x ) ⁢ Se 2 {\mathrm{Cu}\mathrm{In}_{x}\mathrm{Ga}_{(1-x)}\mathrm{Se}_{2}} , and the variation of the bombardment energy in order to find the total ejected atoms from each element of these two materials, we deduce that the sulfide ( S 4 {\mathrm{S}_{4}} ) and selenide ( Se 2 {\mathrm{Se}_{2}} ) elements give the majority of the sputtering yield amount obtained.