Chemical bath deposition and ion exchange were used to incorporate copper, zinc, tin and sulfur into a thin film precursor stack. The stack was then sulfurized to form the photovoltaic absorber material Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS). The morphology and elemental composition of the films at each process stage were analyzed by Auger electron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and the structural and optical properties of the sulfurized film were determined by a combination of X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, and diffuse reflectance UV-Vis spectroscopy. Compositionally uniform microcrystalline CZTS with kesterite structure and a bandgap of 1.45 eV were observed. A preliminary solar cell device was produced exhibiting photovoltaic and rectifying behavior. (C) 2010 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.