Blog

Symposium: C7 Photovoltaics, Solar Energy Materials and Technologies
Congress participation: Virtual

• The silver antimony sulfide-selenide – cubic-$AgSb(S,Se)_2$ is a potential p-type semiconductor for application in thin-film solar cells. In this work, we present perspectives of $AgSb(S,Se)_2$ to develop high-efficiency solar cells using this cubic metal chalcogenide semiconductor.

• Material characterization of the $AgSbS_{1.3}Se_{0.7}$ solid solution confirms p-type conductivity with a bandgap of 1.48 eV and photoconductivity $(\sigma$) of $10^{-5}$ $\Omega^{-1} \text{cm}^{-1}$.

• The merit of incorporating silver atoms into the novel antimony chalcogenides ($Sb_2S_3$, $Sb_2Se_3$) comes from the transformation of orthorhombic structure into an FCC lattice, similar to that in rock salt structure.

• The absorption coefficient of $\alpha > 10^5 \text{cm}^{-1}$ in the visible region of solar radiation in $AgSbS_{1.3}Se_{0.7}$ allows a maximum photo-generated current density of 29 ${\text{mA}}/{\text{cm}^2}$ for a 1 $\mu\text{m}$ thick film under standard air-mass 1.5 global (1000 W/m2) solar radiation.

• The thin film solar cells of CdS/$AgSbS_{1.3}Se_{0.7}$ heterojunction presents a fill factor of 0.64, open-circuit voltage of 537 mV, but a low short circuit current density of 2 mA/$\text{cm}^2$.

• At this stage, chemical deposition has served for prototyping the solar cells. Improvements are expected using industrial chalcogenide growth techniques, which would enhance their carrier collection.