Sb2Se3 thin film solar cells prepared by pulsed laser deposition

Sb2Se3, a very promising absorber layer for thin film solar cells, has attracted more and more attention because of its special structural and optical properties. In this work, pulsed laser deposition (PLD), a simple and effective technique, was used to deposit CdS/Sb2Se3 solar cells for the first time. Results show that the grain size is 200–250 nm, the bandgap is calculated to be 1.21 eV and Sb2Se3 thin film with thickness of 400 nm is more suitable for solar cells. To reduce reflection loss, lattice mismatch and shunt pathways, SnO2 high resistive layer was introduced into Sb2Se3 solar cells. Due to the introduction of SnO2, overall performance, especially Jsc, was improved and champion device was achieved with efficiency of 4.77%.