Solar cells based on Sb2Se3 grown by chalcogenization of Sb thin films, using a novel designed furnace

· A novel reactor with automated control was developed to grow Sb₂Se₃ thin films by selenizing Sb layers in a controlled Ar-H₂ atmosphere. · Incorporating a TiO₂ interlayer between Sb₂Se₃ and CdS increased solar cell efficiency from 4.2% to 5.3%, mitigating material degradation. · The Sb₂Se₃ films exhibited improved structural and optical properties, with high adhesion and a bandgap between 1.1 and 1.2 eV. · A temperature control system using PID and PWM algorithms in LabVIEW enhanced film quality and process reproducibility. · The optimized selenization process provides a scalable approach for advancing Sb₂Se₃-based photovoltaic technologies. Sb 2 Se 3 thin films prepared by chalcogenization of its metallic precursor , have been used as an active layer of solar cells. The samples were prepared using a reactor which allows growing Sb 2 Se 3 films by selenization of a Sb layer previously deposited on Mo covered glass substrates by evaporation. The selenization process was conducted in a controlled atmosphere of an Argon-Hydrogen mixture, followed by thermal annealing under elemental selenium in a tubular furnace heated by infrared lamps. The entire process was automatically controlled using algorithms developed in the LabView programming environment. Through a study of deposition conditions which included the effect of variables such as, furnace heating rate, final annealing target temperature, annealing time and partial pressure of H 2 +Ar mixture, conditions were found to grow single-phase Sb 2 S 3 films with good structural, optical and morphological properties, which indicates that the Sb 2 S 3 films prepared by the chalcogenisation routine developed in this work, can be used as an absorber layer in solar cells. An efficiency of 4.2% was achieved with devices fabricated using the Mo/Sb 2 Se 3 /CdS/i-ZnO/n+ ZnO/Ag architecture; this efficiency was improved to 5.3% by incorporating a TiO 2 layer between the Sb 2 Se 3 absorber and the CdS buffer to prevent degradation of the Sb 2 Se 3 absorber during the deposition of the CdS layer by Chemical Bath Deposition (CBD) method