Anharmonic Effects in Ordered Kesterite-Type Cu2ZnSnS4

Abstract

We performed an in-depth investigation and analysis of the effect of temperature on the Raman-active A-modes of bulk kesterite-type Cu2ZnSnS4 within the 300–460 K temperature range. We acquired the individual contributions to each Raman mode, namely, the thermal expansion and anharmonic interactions terms responsible for the Raman shift and broadening with temperature. Our results indicate that the Raman shift with temperature is dominated by the thermal expansion term, whereas the broadening is mainly governed by three-phonon damping processes in this material. Considering relevant results from the literature, it appears that dimensionality is a key factor in regulating the dominant phonon decay mechanism.