A green and facile hydrothermal approach for the synthesis of high-quality semi-conducting Sb2S3 thin films

High-quality semi-conducting antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) thin films were directly deposited on the indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates by a green and facile one-step approach based on a hydrothermal reaction and post-annealing process without any assistance of complexing agents. The obtained Sb2S3 films possessed a relatively ideal S/Sb atomic ratio and a compact and continuous surface as the grain size of Sb2S3 was increased by high temperature annealing. The Sb2S3 film annealed at 450 °C exhibited the improved optical and electrical performances, with a narrow band gap of 1.63 eV, an electrical resistivity of 1.3 × 104 Ω cm, a carrier concentration of 7.3 × 1013 cm−3 and a carrier mobility of 6.4 cm2 V−1 s−1. This environmentally friendly synthetic route is promising for the preparation of high-quality Sb2S3 films to be used as absorber layer materials for high-performance solar cells.