Crystallographic and optoelectronic properties of the novel thin film absorber Cu2GeS3

Thin films of Cu2GeS3 are grown by annealing copper layers in GeS and S gaseous atmosphere above 460°C. Below 500°C the cubic polymorph is formed, having inferior optoelectronic properties compared to the monoclinic phase, formed at higher temperature. The bandgap of the cubic phase lies below that of the monoclinic phase: they are determined from absorption measurements to be 1.23 and 1.55 eV respectively. Photoluminescence measurements are performed and only the monoclinic Cu2GeS3 shows a photoluminescence signal with a peak maximum at 1.57 eV. We attribute this difference between cubic and monoclinic to the higher quasi fermi level splitting of the monoclinic phase. Wavelength dependent photoelectrochemical measurements demonstrate the Cu2GeS3 to be p-type with an apparent quantum efficiency of less than 3 % above the band gap.