Influence of the substrate temperature on the formation of CuSbSe2 thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

Cu–Sb–Se targets were obtained by solid-state reaction from Cu2Se and Sb2Se3 precursors annealed at different temperature and time conditions. The structural characterization showed that the optimum annealing conditions were at 400 °C for 3 h. Afterward, Cu–Sb–Se films onto glass/SnO2:F/ZnO/CdS substrates at 250 °C, 300 °C, 350 °C and 400 °C by pulsed laser deposition were deposited using the synthesized Cu–Sb–Se pellet as target. Cu–Sb–Se films were characterized through XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, UV–Vis and XPS spectroscopy. The structural studies revealed that a substrate temperature of 350 °C promotes the CuSbSe2 phase with an orthorhombic nature and reduces the secondary phases. The best structural and optical properties are found at a substrate temperature of 350 °C, indicating that it can be used as an absorber layer in photovoltaic devices.