Temperature-dependent photocarrier recombination dynamics in Cu{sub 2}ZnSnS{sub 4} single crystals

Time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) measurements have been used to study the temperature-dependent photocarrier recombination dynamics in Cu{sub 2}ZnSnS{sub 4} (CZTS) single crystals. We found a significant change of nearly four orders of magnitude of the PL decay time, from microseconds at low temperatures to subnanoseconds at room temperature. The slow PL decay at low temperatures indicates localization of the photocarriers at the band tails. Due to the large band tail states, the PL decay time depends strongly on both the photon energy and excitation density. It is pointed out that the drastically enhanced nonradiative recombination at high temperatures is one of the main factors that determine the power conversion efficiency of CZTS-based solar cells.