Structural, morphological, compositional, optical and electrical properties of Sb2Se3 thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition

Abstract Sb2Se3 is a promising absorber for thin film solar cells due to its nontoxicity, low cost, earth abundance and excellent photovoltaic properties. However, few reports focus on Sb2Se3 thin films prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Here we successfully deposited Sb2Se3 thin films at different substrate temperatures by PLD. Structural, morphological, compositional, optical and electrical properties of Sb2Se3 thin films were characterized. Results show that Sb2Se3 thin films exhibit orthorhombic phase with good crystallinity and higher substrate temperature can distinctly improve crystal quality. Optical band gap is about 1.30 eV, 1.20 eV, 1.18 eV and 1.16 eV for Sb2Se3 thin films deposited at 370 °C, 390 °C, 410 °C and 430 °C, respectively. In addition, the atomic ratio of selenium to antimony is 3/2, entirely consistent with the stoichiometry ratio of Sb2Se3.