Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 March 2014
Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) precursor films were deposited by one-step RF sputtering process at room temperature under various sputtering power, and then films were annealed at different pressure of 10-3 Pa and 100 Pa. Films annealed at high vacuum of 10-3 Pa exhibit significant loss of Sn element and they construct with two phases of Cu1.8Se and ZnSe. Higher annealing pressure at 100 Pa can drastically reduce the loss of Sn element and result in single kesterite CZTSe phase of the annealed films. Loss of Se element is found in all the annealed films and the values of [Se]/[Metal] and [Sn]/[Zn] are related with sputtering power. High vacuum annealed films show cracks and porous structure on the surface, meanwhile, films annealed at 100 Pa show compact, densely packed homogeneous morphology.