Antimony triselenide (Sb2Se3) is a chemical compound. The material is antimonselite, a sulfosalt mineral with an orthorhombic space group. The formal oxidation states of antimony and selenium are + 3 and 2, respectively. Covalent bonding is indicated by these and related materials' black colour and semiconducting properties [1]. At room temperature, the low-frequency dielectric constant along the crystal's axis is unusually high. It has a bandgap of 1.18 eV at room temperature. These two elements mix to make this compound. It has a melting point of 885 K.
Due to their unique physical and chemical properties, as well as their numerous applications in luminescence, solar cells, IR detectors, thermoelectric devices, and television cameras with photo-conducting targets (as well as optoelectronic devices), researchers have recently become fascinated by the growth and synthesis of semiconducting chalcogenides of group A2VB3VI (A = As, Sb, Bi, and B = Se, Te). Chalcogenides contain a chalcogen anion (most commonly S, Se, and Te). The semiconducting chalcogenide materials are the most significant in science and technology [2]. Heating and cooling are two of the most promising uses of thermoelectrics. Chalcogenides, including bismuth and antimony, have recently been discovered to have unique properties, unlike zinc, cadmium, and lead. Semiconducting chalcogenide materials in Groups V2–VI3 are well-known for thermoelectric refrigeration and power generation. M2S3 (M = Bi, Sb) (Bismuth and Antimony Sulfide) compounds have received much attention as V2-VI3 semiconductors because of their optical and electrical properties. A wide variety of commercial products rely on them [3]. Specifically, solar photovoltaics are becoming more popular in renewable energy research. Because of this, thin films have consistently outperformed thick movies in conversion efficiency to electric current. Traditional chalcogenide-based thin-film absorbers with high power conversion efficiencies include Cu (In, Ga), Se2 (CIGS), and CdTe. Cd toxicity and a lack of Te, In, and Ga are still issued [4]. In recent decades, solar panels made of widely available, inexpensive, and non-toxic photovoltaic materials have drawn considerable interest. Photovoltaics Sb2Se3 is one of the most promising solar cell absorbers because of its abundance of earth-abundant elements and long-term stability. The efficiency of Sb2Se3-based solar cells is being worked on more aggressively due to their potential photovoltaic uses [5].
Materials synthesis and film deposition have gained much attention in recent years. Sb2Se3 has gotten much attention as a potential absorber material for solar cells because of its appealing optoelectronic properties, such as a proper bandgap, significant absorption coefficient, decent carrier mobility, long carrier lifetime, low toxicity, and low cost [6]. Planar heterojunction solar cells based on Sb2Se3 have come a long way in stability and efficiency. Because of Sb2Se3 shortcomings, researchers began to focus on Sb2Se3 xSx. Sb2Se3 xSx photoelectric properties must be optimized to design high-performance photovoltaic devices. The causes of bandgap changes must be investigated. A high-quality Sb2Se3 film is the most challenging part of improving solar cell performance. It can be achieved using various techniques, including vacuum evaporation, sputtering, spin coating, electrodeposition, and chemical bath deposition. Rapid thermal evaporation (RTE) deposition technology yielded the best PCE results [7]. However, this type of solar cell has only been reported to have the highest efficiency in substrate architecture using junction interface engineering. Sb2Se3-based solar cells still have a long way to go before reaching their full potential. Using one-dimensional solar cell capacitance (SCAPS-1D) software, researchers compared experimental and simulation results to examine the possibility of creating a Sb2Se3-based solar cell with high performance. The impact of various parameters, such as thickness, doping, diffusion length, different buffer and hole transport layers (HTL), and temperature, were studied. The following materials were used for this study's experimental and simulation cells: ITO/CdS/Sb2Se3/CZTSe/Au. Advances in photovoltaic technology for Sb2Se3-based solar cells can be aided by numerical analysis, forecasting the optimal values and prices for the solar cells under study [8]. The efficiency of an experimentally designed Sb2Se3 solar cell with the structure Sb2Se3/CdS/ITO (Antimony triselenide/cadmium sulfide/Indium tin oxide) was proposed after the device's system was analyzed in the SCAPS-1D software. Researchers found that the performance of devices can be improved by adding HTL and adjusting their conduction band offset [9]. However, the machine equipped with the HTL layer performs better regarding solar cell functional parameters.
Highly crystalline Sb2Se3 sheets are needed to reduce the bulk trap density and non-radiative recombination loss. Deposition technologies for high-quality Sb2Se3 films include spin coating, thermal evaporation, electrochemical deposition, rapid thermal evaporation (RTE), and sputtering [10]. RTE is the simplest and fastest method to produce the highest PCE Sb2Se3 solar cells. However, there are several drawbacks to this approach. Regulating the source's temperature and substrate simultaneously with our RTE setup is nearly impossible. In RTE-produced Sb2Se3 solar cells with CdS as the electron transport layer, Cd2+ diffused into the Sb2Se3 layer, resulting in a buried homo-junction and severe light instability. This issue is needed to resolve a deposition technique that precisely controls source evaporation and substrate temperatures. Closed-space sublimation (CSS) is a deposition method that provides accurate and independent temperature control [11]. Due to its scalability and low material consumption, CSS has been widely used to build efficient CdTe thin-film solar cells. Sb2Se3 films with low heterojunction diffusion should be deposited by CSS to produce high-performance CdS/Sb2Se3 thin-film solar cells. Use an n-i-p configuration to create a back surface electric field and reduce the rear surface recombination rate to improve carrier extraction efficiency. Phosphate buffer saline (PbS) quantum dots were an inefficient HTL on a Sb2Se3 solar cell. Lead (Pb) toxic nature raises environmental and health concerns. Although small-molecular organic HTLs have several advantages, such as low-temperature solution processing and clearly defined chemical properties, they also have drawbacks [12].
To lower the bulk trap density and non-radiative recombination loss, Sb2Se3 sheets need numerous crystals. Numerous methods, such as spin coating, thermal evaporation, electrochemical deposition, rapid thermal evaporation (RTE), and sputtering, can deposit high-quality Sb2Se3 films [10]. The highest PCE Sb2Se3 solar cells can be made quickly and easily using RTE. There are a few issues with this plan, though. The temperature of the source and substrate cannot be controlled simultaneously with our RTE setup. Cd2+ could migrate into the Sb2Se3 layer because CdS was the electron transport layer in RTE's Sb2Se3 solar cells. As a result, there was a buried homo-junction and significant light instability. Researchers require a deposition method that allows us to precisely control the source evaporation and substrate temperatures to resolve this problem. Temperature control that is incredibly accurate and independent is possible with depositing via closed-space sublimation (CSS) [11]. CSS has been extensively used to create effective CdTe thin-film solar cells because it is simple to scale up and uses few resources. CSS must prioritize Sb2Se3 films with low heterojunction diffusion when depositing Sb2Se3 films for use in CdS/Sb2Se3 thin-film solar cells. Reduce the recombination rate at the back surface by generating an electric field with an n-i-p configuration. As a result, carrier extraction is more effective. On a Sb2Se3 solar cell, Phosphate Buffer Saline (PbS) quantum dots were a useless HTL. Because lead (Pb) is toxic, people and ecosystems are concerned about it. Small-molecule organic HTLs have specific chemical properties and can be processed in a solution at low temperatures, one of their benefits [12].
Sb2Se3 solar cells were created using chemical bath deposition, sputtering, thermal evaporation, atomic layer deposition, and other methods. Improved performance can be achieved by experimenting with different deposition routes and fine-tuning the parameters of a specific device [13]. Studies show that Sb2Se3 has recently gained popularity in the scientific community due to its high efficacy. In solar cells, layers of Sb2Se3 deposited by CSS neared the 10% efficiency barrier. Despite the study's promising aspects, the Shockley-Queisser (S-Q) efficiency limit is not reached. According to recent studies, the low efficiency of antimony chalcogenide-based solar cells may be due to severe defects, non-radiative and interface recombination, inter-layer diffusion, and other factors. These bottlenecks result in a significantly lower VOC than the S-Q limit. Defects in solar cells made from Sb2Se3 must be studied and optimized using a proper numerical analysis [14]. Several researchers worked on Sb2Se3 solar cell device optimization parameters simultaneously. Many parameters and defects in Sb2Se3 solar cells haven't been studied simultaneously.
The novelty of the paper is the structure of the Sb2Se3 solar cell which is ITO/CdS/Sb2Se3/CZTSe/Au, where CdS is an excellent semiconductor in nature, Sb2Se3 is a very stable material, and CZTSe thin films have recently been examined as a possible basis for thin film solar cells due to their high absorption coefficient and straight band gap. CZTSe can deliver a high conversion rate. Design a model to mimic the optical properties of CZTSe-CdS-Sb2Se3 solar cells, which can be used to reduce optical losses. The devices will therefore function better and be more effective. The paper is divided into five parts where part 1 describes the introduction related to Sb2Se3; section 2 describes related work done till now by different authors over Sb2Se3 solar cells; and section 3 describes working, modelling, software, and numerical simulation of Sb2Se3 solar cell device, section 4 describe simulated results and discussion over results. In contrast, section 5 describes the paper's summary as a conclusion.