Application of UV/O3 treatment enhancing the performance of Sb2Se3 thin-film solar cells

Abstract

Because of its exceptional photoelectric qualities, exceptional stability, and plentiful element resources, the antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) can be used as an absorber layer. The performance of solar cells needs to be further improved. Comprehending the various surface treatment conditions is instrumental in optimizing device performance. In this research, we pre-treated the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) surface with ultraviolet ozone (UV/O3) and investigated how the device (FTO/CdS (53 nm)/Sb2Se3(203 nm)/Spiro(120 nm)/Au(80 nm)) performance was affected by temperature of the substrate during the UV/O3 treatment. It's interesting to note that the solar cells made with FTO after exposure to UV/O3 have better interface quality and lower recombination losses, which significantly improves the Open circuit voltage (VOC) and Fill factor (FF). The result is an improvement in the device's Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) from 7.13% to 8.14%. The work is aimed at developing an efficient strategy to improve the performance of Sb2Se3 solar cells.