Analysis of Ag2CdSnS4 Compound by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Electronic structure of Ag2CdSnS4 single crystal grown by the horizontal gradient freeze technique.For the crystal under consideration, X-ray photoelectron core-level and valence-band spectra for pristine measured. The present X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results indicate that Ag2CdSnS4 single crystal surface is very rigid, with respect to Ar+ ion-irradiation. For the Ag2CdSnS4 compound, the X-ray emission bands representing the energy distribution of the valence Ag 3d, Cd 3d and S 2p states were recorded and compared on a common energy scale with the XPS valence-band spectrum. Results of such a comparison indicate that the S 2p states contribute predominantly in the upper and central portions of the valence band of the Ag2CdSnS4 single crystal. In addition, our data reveal that the Ag 4d and Cd 4d states contribute mainly in the central portion and at the bottom of the valence band, respectively.