Preparation and characterization of pulsed laser deposited CdSe window layer for Sb2Se3 thin film solar cell

Abstract

Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) is a potential photoelectric absorber for its excellent photoelectric properties, low cost and less pollution. At present, the main window layers are CdS, ZnO, TiO2 and SnO2 in Sb2Se3 solar cells, while there is a lack of research on CdSe film. Here, the CdSe films were deposited at 100 °C, 200 °C, 300 °C and 400 °C by pulsed laser deposition as the window layer of Sb2Se3 solar cell. The XRD and TC values results for CdSe/Sb2Se3 films demonstrated that CdSe films deposited at different temperatures can promote the (hk1) orientation growth of Sb2Se3 films, in which the (221) orientation of Sb2Se3 film is optimal when the CdSe film deposited at 300 °C. Scanning electron microscope results showed that the surface of the Sb2Se3 thin film with CdSe film deposited at 300 °C has relatively uniform grains. Comparing the different temperatures, the CdSe/Sb2Se3 heterojunction was obtained by deposition of CdSe thin films at 300 °C, with the highest efficiency of 3.65%. This study confirmed the feasibility of CdSe thin film as a window layer of Sb2Se3 solar cells.