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Fabrication and characterization of 150 nm tin antimony sulfide thin films, a promising window layer material for homojunction solar cells

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Abstract

A suitable combination of window and absorber layers plays a vital role in the fabrication of an efficient solar cell system. Here, we report the investigations concerning tin antimony sulfide, SnSb4S7 (TAS) thin film as an n-type window layer, prepared on the cleaned glass substrate via thermal evaporation technique. The obtained 150 nm thin films were annealed at 150, 200, 250, and 300 °C in an argon atmosphere, and then analyzed to get insight about its potential in a solar cell as an n-type window layer. The resistance of the films, determined via Van der Pauw technique, is found to be decreased (76–52 MΩ) with increasing annealing temperature. XRD analysis showed that the calculated crystallite size of the sample annealed at 300 °C was around 16 ± 0.5 nm, which is consistent with the characteristic range of window layer. Moreover, the calculated band gap (2.3–2.85 eV), low absorbance, and high transmittance values in the visible range also endorse the potential of TAS thin film for window layer.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank University Teknologi Malaysia/Ministry of Education Malaysia for the financial support of this research work through Project Nos. Q.J130000.2526.12H46, R.J130000.7826.4F508, Post-Doctoral Fellowship Scheme under Project No. Py/2014/03074, and International Doctoral Fellowship 176–BIASISWAZAH UTM IDF, and the author (Naser M AbdEl-Salam) is thankful to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for funding the work through the research group Project No. RGP-210.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, UTM Skudai, 81310, Johor, Malaysia

    N. Ali, A. Hussain, R. Ahmed & W. N. Wan Shamsuri

  2. Department of Physics, Govt. Post Graduate Jehanzeb College Saidu Sharif, Swat, 19200, Pakistan

    N. Ali

  3. Ar-Riyadh Community College, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11437, Saudi Arabia

    Naser M. Abdel-Salam

  4. Laboratoire de Physique Quantique et de Modélisation Mathématique (LPQ3M), Département de Technologie, Université de Mascara, 29000, Mascara, Algeria

    R. Khenata

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  1. N. Ali
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  2. A. Hussain
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  3. R. Ahmed
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  4. W. N. Wan Shamsuri
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  5. Naser M. Abdel-Salam
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  6. R. Khenata
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Correspondence to N. Ali or R. Ahmed.

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Ali, N., Hussain, A., Ahmed, R. et al. Fabrication and characterization of 150 nm tin antimony sulfide thin films, a promising window layer material for homojunction solar cells. Appl. Phys. A 123, 282 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-017-0879-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-017-0879-4

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