Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 September 2014
We report a stable CdS/Sb2S3/SnSe heterojunction thin film solar cell deposited on SnO2:F (FTO) – coated glass substrates. Thermal evaporation at 10-5 Torr with substrate temperature of 400 °C was used to deposit Sb2S3 and SnSe thin films of 450 nm and 160 nm, respectively. Thin film Sb2S3 has an optical band gap (Eg) of 1.48 eV and photoconductivity (σp) of 4x10-7 Ω-1 cm-1 and thin film SnSe has an Eg of 1.28 eV and σp of 2 Ω-1 cm-1. The chemically deposited CdS thin film heated at 400 °C shows an Eg of 2.34 eV and σp of 0.1 Ω-1 cm-1. Stabilized solar cell structures with these thin films, FTO/CdS/Sb2S3/SnSe/C-Ag, showed open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.60 V, short circuit current density (Jsc) of 5.51 mA/cm2 and power conversion efficiency (η) of 0.96% with a fill factor FF of 0.29. In the absence of the SnSe layer, Jsc decreases to 4.77 mA/cm2.