Effect of post-annealing temperature distribution on the orientation growth of Sb2Se3 films for efficient solar cells

Abstract

Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) has emerged as a highly promising photovoltaic absorber owing to its cost-effectiveness and distinctive one-dimensional crystal structure. Recent research has increasingly focused on crystal orientation engineering to improve the efficiency of Sb2Se3-based solar cells. Herein, an Sb2Se3 film prepared by chemical bath deposition was post-treated by open-space annealing (OSA) and close-space annealing (CSA). The two annealing methods resulted in different temperature distributions on the surface of the films, and the films showed a significantly different grain growth model and preferred orientation. The [301]- and [311]-oriented Sb2Se3 films were obtained following the normal grain growth model during close-space annealing. Enhanced grain orientation can substantially enhance carrier transport. Furthermore, close-space annealing can effectively passivate film defects. Finally, solar cells based on CSA-Sb2Se3 thin films achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.57%. This study provides a new insight for the orientation engineering of quasi-one-dimensional thin-film materials.

Graphical abstract: Effect of post-annealing temperature distribution on the orientation growth of Sb2Se3 films for efficient solar cells

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Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 May 2025
Accepted
26 Jul 2025
First published
28 Jul 2025

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, Advance Article

Effect of post-annealing temperature distribution on the orientation growth of Sb2Se3 films for efficient solar cells

L. Shen, D. Qin, X. Hu, S. Chen and J. Tao, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D5TA03710G

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