Today, an actual task of photovoltaics is the search for new light-absorbing materials for solar cells, which will make them more efficient and economically affordable. Semiconductor Cu₂NiSn(S,Se)₄ (CNTSSe) thin films are promising materials due to suitable optical and electrical properties. This compound consists of abundant, inexpensive, and low-toxicity elements. However, few results of studying the properties of CNTSSe films have been presented in the literature. This paper presents the results of studying the morphology, phase composition, and crystal structure of the CNTSSe films, which were first obtained by high-temperature annealing of electrodeposited Ni/Cu/Sn/Ni precursors on glass/Mo substrates in chalcogen vapor. The films were studied using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. It has been found that sequential electrochemical deposition makes it possible to obtain the Ni/Cu/Sn/Ni precursors of the required quality for further synthesis of the films. It is shown that high-temperature annealing in chalcogen vapor in air makes it possible to synthesize stable polycrystalline CNTSSe films. The obtained results confirm that the production of CNTSSe films is suitable for use in solar cells by the proposed method, which can be improved by more precise control of the precursor composition and annealing conditions.

Er-doped ZnO (ZnO:Er) thin films were grown on quartz and p-Si substrates at 25°C by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering method. The effect of the heat treatment at 600 and 900°C on the properties of the films was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. A homogeneous elements distribution is revealed for all investigated films on different substrates. ZnO:Er films were found to be uniform, pinhole-free, well adherent to the substrate and the crystal grain size is dependent on the type of substrate and the preparation conditions. All the films showed a (002) preferential orientation with the c-axis perpendicular to the substrate surface. The results obtained from XRD spectra reveal that Er³⁺ ions successfully substitute for Zn²⁺ ions in the ZnO lattice.

Микроструктура и комбинационное рассеяние света тонких пленок Cu 2 ZnSnSe 4 , осажденных на гибкие металлические подложки

The quaternary semiconductors Cu2CdSnS4, Cu2CdSnSe4 and Cu2CdSn(SxSe1–x)4 solid solutions were synthesized by the one-temperature method from the elementary components. The X-ray diffraction method showed that the obtained polycrystalline samples are single-phased. The unit cell parameters of the synthesized compounds and Cu2CdSn(SxSe1–x)4 solid solutions were determined from diffraction spectra by the full-profile analysis using the Rietveld method with the Fullprof software package. It has been established that with an increase in sulfur concentration, the unit cell parameters decrease smoothly linearly in accordance with the Vegard rule, which indicates the formation of a continuous series of solid solutions in the Cu2CdSn(SxSe1–x)4 system within the range 0 ≤ x ≤ 1. The parameter of crystal lattice tetragonal distortions h of the investigated compounds is calculated. The h values are close to 1 for all the compositions studied, which indicates a small crystal lattice distortion of the obtained samples.