Efficient planar antimony sulfide thin film photovoltaics with large grain and preferential growth

Compact thin film of antimony sulfide (Sb 2 S 3 ) as a promising absorber layer was obtained by rapid thermal evaporation (RTE) rather than conventional chemical bath deposition or atomic layer deposition based methods. The systematical characterizations of Sb 2 S 3 film demonstrated the pure phase, void free and high crystallization. The large grain and preferential growth of Sb 2 S 3 thin film were implemented by crystallization and cooling techniques, respectively. The corresponding devices were gradually optimized with a power conversion efficiency of ~3.5%, almost three times of planar devices fabricated by vacuum method. Both the non-oxide buffer layer (CdS layer) and free of hole transport layer enabled the high stability of the non-encapsulated planar devices. The high throughput and reliable RTE fabrication technique , environment-friendly and earth-abundant Sb 2 S 3 materials, stable and superior device performances were expected to drive the research progress of Sb 2 S 3 thin film photovoltaics .