Chemically Deposited Silver Antimony Selenide Thin Films for Photovoltaic Applications

Abstract

Silver antimony selenide (AgSbSe2) thin films were prepared by heating sequentially deposited antimony sulphide (Sb2S3), silver selenide (Ag2Se) and Ag thin films in close contact with a selenium thin film. Sb2S3 thin film was prepared from chemical bath containing SbCl3 and Na2S2O3, Ag2Se from the bath containing AgNO3 and Na2SeSO3 and Se thin films from an acidified solution of Na2SeSO3, at room temperature on cleaned glass substrates. Ag thin film was deposited by vacuum thermal evaporation. The annealing temperature was varied from 300-390°C in vacuum (∼10−3 Torr) for 1 h. X-ray diffraction analysis showed the films formed at 350 °C was polycrystalline AgSb(S,Se)2 or AgSbSe2 depending on selenium thin film thickness. Morphology of these films was analyzed using Atomic Force Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The elemental analysis was done using Energy Dispersive X-ray technique. Optical characterization of the thin films was done by optical transmittance spectra. The electrical characterizations were done using Hall effect and photocurrent measurements. A photovoltaic structure: Glass/ITO/CdS/AgSbSe2/Ag was formed, in which CdS was deposited by chemical bath deposition. J-V characteristics of this PV structure showed Voc=370 mV and Jsc=0.5 mA/cm2 under illumination using a tungsten halogen lamp.

Optical and electrical properties and phonon drag effect in low temperature TEP measurements of AgSbSe2thin films

“…The TEP dip temperature T m allows us to calculate the nonnormalised energy of the phonon using the relation OE21 as in Eq. (6).…”

Structural , Morphological and Electrical Properties of AgSbSe2 Thin Films

“…The compound thin film exists in two phases-cubic AgSbSe 2 and orthorhombic Ag 5 SbSe 4 . Different techniques for the preparation of cubic AgSbSe 2 have been illustrated in the literature including, by fusing the constituent elements in a vacuum sealed quartz tube [12]•, vacuum evaporation [12-1413-15]and chemical deposition [15].Abdelghany et al [16]• carried out measurements on the electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power of the AgSbSe 2 in the solid and liquid states from 350 to 975 o C. Wojciechowski et al [17]• pointed out the semiconducting with a narrow band or semimetallic properties of this material by studying the electrical conductivity and the See back coefficient (320 V/K at room temperature) is measured as a function of temperature in the range from 300-600 K. Schmidt et al [18]• estimated the value of Eg of this material is 0.09 eV, indicating that the semi metallic feature and alloying of AgSbSe 2 compounds exhibit an apparent semiconducting behavior. The AgSbSe 2 have been studied previously, however, the literature survey showed that the D.C conductivity studies on the semiconductor AgSbSe 2 were not reported.…”