Thermally activated band conduction and variable range hopping conduction in Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films

The temperature dependence of electrical conductivity of the Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films has been measured in order to identify the dominant conduction mechanism. These CZTS film have been deposited by ultrasonic assisted chemical vapor deposition method at different substrate temperatures in a single step process. All the films exhibit p-type semiconducting behaviour. In the high temperature range (> 250 K), the dominance of thermally activated band conduction is observed, whereas in the lower temperature region (250-70 K), the hopping conduction is present. Detailed analysis of the temperature dependence of conductivity of the films reveals that in the temperature range from 250-170 K, nearest neighbour hopping dominates, whereas in the lower temperature region (170-70 K), the dominant hopping conduction is Mott's 3D variable range hopping and not Efros-Shklovskii variable range hopping. The value of Mott's temperature is found to decrease for the CZTS films deposited at higher temperature, which has been attributed to enhanced density of states at the Fermi level. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.