The order-disorder transition in Cu2ZnSnS4: A theoretical and experimental study.

In this work the Cu/Zn order-disorder transition in Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 kesterites on Wyckoff positions 2c and 2d was investigated by a structural and electronic analysis in theory and experiment. For experimental investigations stoichiometric samples with different Cu/Zn order, annealed in the temperature range of 473–623 K and afterwards quenched, were used. The optical gaps were determined using the Derivation of Absorption Spectrum Fitting (DASF) method. Furthermore, the order-disorder transition was examined by DFT calculations for a closer analysis of the origins of the reduced band gap, showing a good agreement with experimental data with respect to structural and electronic properties. Our studies show a slight increase of lattice parameter c in the kesterite lattice with increasing disorder. Additionally, a reduced band gap was observed with increasing disorder, which is an effect of newly occurring binding motifs in the disordered kesterite structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]