Effects of working pressure and power on photovoltaic and defect properties of magnetron sputtered Sb2Se3 thin-film solar cells

Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) is an emerging material with potential applications in photovoltaics, while magnetron sputtering is an important method in material growth. In this study, Sb2Se3 thin films, prepared by the magnetron sputtering technique with varied working pressures and sputtering powers, were fabricated into solar cells with a structure of glass/ITO/CdS/Sb2Se3/Au. The current density versus voltage measurements and x-ray diffraction were introduced to compare the photovoltaic and structural properties of the cell samples. Characterization and identification of the defects in Sb2Se3 thin films were investigated by admittance measurements. The Sb2Se3 cell samples prepared with appropriate sputtering power (about 60 W) or working pressure (about 0.4 Pa) were found to own better crystal qualities and lower defect densities, which may be the reason for better efficiency. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America