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Preparation and characterization of Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition

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Abstract

Antimony sulfide-selenide, Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 (0 < x < 1), with a tunable bandgap combining the advantages of antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) and antimony selenide (Sb2Se3), shows great potential as a promising light-absorbing material in low-cost, low-toxic, and high-stability thin-film solar cells. In this work, high-quality Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 thin films were successfully prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using the Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 compound targets for the first time and realized tunable bandgaps by simply changing the S/(Se + S) ratios of compound targets. The effects of substrate temperature and S/(S + Se) ratio on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of films were investigated separately. It was discovered that 500 °C was the optimum substrate temperature to grow high-crystallinity, good-morphology, and low-defects Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 thin films, and the film with S/(S + Se) ratio of 0.2 showed optimal properties. Optical characterization demonstrated all Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 thin films owned high absorption coefficients above 105 cm−1 at the visible light region and suitable bandgaps near the ideal value of the Shockley–Queisser limit. The results of energy dispersive spectrometer showed that all films were poor in Sb and rich in (S + Se), which was a favorable condition for them as light absorbers. The activation energy obtained from the electrical measurement revealed that the conductivity of Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 thin films was mainly contributed by the intrinsic thermal excitation at 350–500 K. Our research offered a simple and reliable technology to prepare Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 thin films with adjustable bandgaps and favorable properties, which is expected to promote the development and application of this semiconducting material in thin-film solar cells.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant No. 61574094]. We sincerely thank Prof. Li Wu for the measurement of Raman and Prof. Yi He for the measurement of SEM at the Analytical & Testing Center of Sichuan University, as well as Ms. Yue Qi for the XRD measurements at the comprehensive training platform of the Specialized Laboratory in the College of Chemistry, Sichuan University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Sichuan University, No.24 South Section 1, Yihuan Road, Chengdu, 610064, China

    Fengying Gao, Xiuling Li, Xiaoyong Xiong, Kelin Li, Yue Xie, Jincheng Luo, Bing Li & Guanggen Zeng

  2. Engineering Research Center of Alternative Energy Materials & Devices, Ministry of Education, Chengdu, 610064, China

    Fengying Gao, Xiuling Li, Xiaoyong Xiong, Kelin Li, Yue Xie, Jincheng Luo, Bing Li & Guanggen Zeng

  3. Institute of Basic and Applied Sciences, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, Alexandria, Egypt

    Mohsen Ghali

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  1. Fengying Gao
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Contributions

Professor BL made substantial contributions to the conception and design. FG designed and carried out the experiment, analyzed the data, and revised the manuscript. XL, XX, KL, and YX assisted the characterization and analysis. JL assisted the analysis and modification. GZ and MG assisted the writing-review.

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Correspondence to Bing Li.

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Gao, F., Li, X., Xiong, X. et al. Preparation and characterization of Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 33, 26086–26099 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-09296-1

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