eV), [1][2][3] remarkable absorption coefficient (≈10 5 cm −1 ), [4,5] excellent stability, and low-toxicity component. To promote the power conversion efficiency, many methods have been successfully applied to fabricate Sb 2 (S x ,Se 1-x ) 3 solar cells. For example, the rapid thermal evaporation (RTE) method [6] have been gathered many attentions for the fabrication of Sb 2 Se 3 solar cells. Recently, Tang and co-workers used a novel vapor transport deposition (VTD) way to refresh the recorded efficiency of Sb 2 Se 3 solar cell to 7.6%, [7] which has been made a great progress since Sb 2 Se 3 was successfully achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 0.03% in 2002. [8] On the other hand, Choi et al. have achieved a PCE of 7.5% [9] for Sb 2 S 3 by chemical bath deposition (CBD). Although the VTD and CBD methods have achieved impressive efficiency over 7%, a number of processing issues arise in these approaches. For example, VTD deposition processes are complex and expensive. While the nonvacuums CBD method also has weaknesses such as (i) the film prepared from CBD method is tend to be amorphous; [8,10] (ii) the Sb 2 S 3 film prepared by CBD method is antimony rich which results in a higher mean coordination number (MCN) than the stoichiometric Sb 2 S 3 . It will make it too rigid to flatten out after the annealing step; [11] (iii) the Sb 2 S 3 film prepared by CBD method inevitably includes impurities such as SbOCl, Sb 2 O 3 , and Sb 2 (SO 3 ) 3 . [12][13][14] Meanwhile, although the crystalline of the film fabricated by RTE or VTD is promising, the compactness of the absorber needs a further improvement. Thus, seeking for an effective and easy-handle nonvacuum approach to improve Sb 2 (S x ,Se 1-x ) 3 thin film solar cells is urgently needed.Since the hydrothermal method is a useful method in thin film preparation, the quality and homogeneity of the film deposited by this method is remarkable, which is expected to be able to solve the problem mentioned above and cut down the cost of fabrication. Liu et al. have taken this method to prepare the Sb 2 S 3 thin films, but there is no device reported. [15] In our previous work, double buffer layer was used to tune the band align and reduce recombination, which has achieved V oc as high as 792 mV based on hydrothermal derived Sb 2 (S x ,Se 1-x ) 3 solar cell. [16] But the thick buffer layer (60 nm TiO 2 + 60 nm CdS) inevitably increases the R s of device and decreases the transmittance as well, both of which will reduce J sc and PCE. Besides, the formation mechanism for Sb 2 S 3 thin films based Antimony sulfide-selenide Sb 2 (S,Se) 3 as a promising absorber material has drawn extensive attention owing to its rewarding photoelectric properties, low toxicity, and earth abundant components. Here, an available and highly effective method, in situ hydrothermal growth accompanied with postselenization, is successfully applied to fabricate Sb 2 (S,Se) 3 solar cells. The rationale for the preparation of Sb 2 S 3 precursors by the hydrothermal method is discussed, and ...

A highly (100) oriented GeSe thin film was deposited by evaporation and novel sandwiching post-annealing, achieving a device with a high VOC.

Sb 2 (S,Se) 3 has gathered a lot of attention recently as a promising alternative absorber material. However, the efficiencies of Sb 2 (S,Se) 3 devices are seriously restricted by the low open circuit voltage (V oc ). In this work, Sb 2 (S, Se) 3 devices equipped with a TiO 2 /CdS double buffer layer are prepared by a hydro-thermal method, which aims to overcome the V oc deficit. The obtained average V oc of the devices is 785 mV and the champion efficiency of 5.73% is also achieved with a highest V oc ¼ 792 mV, Jsc ¼ 12.03 mA cm À2 , FF ¼ 60.9%. The improvement of V oc is benefited from the reduced band gap offset after application of the double buffer layer. The non-encapsulated device could keep an average power conversion efficiency of 5.69% after being stored in ambient air over a month. This indicates the great potential of a double buffer layer in new chalcogenide photovoltaic devices.

A novel peeling process was introduced to effectively remove the harmful SnS2 secondary phase formed on the surface, which used a sticky tape without using any wet-chemical solution. Such a green surface treatment largely improved the performance of CZTS device.

The vapor transport deposition (VTD) method is regarded as one of the most effective approaches to obtain high-quality Sb2Se3 thin films. However, the orientation and morphology of Sb2Se3 limit the development of Sb2Se3 solar cells. Thus, a method to tailor the surface morphology of Sb2Se3 film growth by VTD is urgently needed. In this work, the growth of the Sb2Se3 thin film and the formation mechanism of Sb2Se3 nanorods appearing on the Sb2Se3 film are carefully studied. Sb2Se3 nanorods with [hk1] orientation and [hk0] orientation are distinguished. By controlling the growth of Sb2Se3 nanorods with [hk1] orientation, the interface defect density is reduced and the quality of the Sb2Se3 thin film is improved. Finally, Sb2Se3 solar cells with the configuration ITO/CdS/Sb2Se3/C/Ag achieve an efficiency of 6.09% with an open circuit voltage (V oc) deficit decreased by 34 mV, wherein over 85% of the efficiency of the Sb2Se3 device remains after replacing the Spiro-OMeTAD/Au structure with a carbon/Ag structure. This value is the champion efficiency for a VTD-processed Sb2Se3 solar cell with a carbon electrode. This work is expected to offer valuable information for the future development of Sb2Se3 or/and other highly anisotropic materials formed by physical vapor deposition.

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