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Antimony sulfide-selenide, Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 (0 < x < 1), with a tunable bandgap combining the advantages of antimony sulfide (Sb2S3) and antimony selenide (Sb2Se3), shows great potential as a promising light-absorbing material in low-cost, low-toxic, and high-stability thin-film solar cells. In this work, high-quality Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 thin films were successfully prepared by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using the Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 compound targets for the first time and realized tunable bandgaps by simply changing the S/(Se + S) ratios of compound targets. The effects of substrate temperature and S/(S + Se) ratio on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of films were investigated separately. It was discovered that 500 °C was the optimum substrate temperature to grow high-crystallinity, good-morphology, and low-defects Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 thin films, and the film with S/(S + Se) ratio of 0.2 showed optimal properties. Optical characterization demonstrated all Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 thin films owned high absorption coefficients above 105 cm−1 at the visible light region and suitable bandgaps near the ideal value of the Shockley–Queisser limit. The results of energy dispersive spectrometer showed that all films were poor in Sb and rich in (S + Se), which was a favorable condition for them as light absorbers. The activation energy obtained from the electrical measurement revealed that the conductivity of Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 thin films was mainly contributed by the intrinsic thermal excitation at 350–500 K. Our research offered a simple and reliable technology to prepare Sb2(SxSe1−x)3 thin films with adjustable bandgaps and favorable properties, which is expected to promote the development and application of this semiconducting material in thin-film solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, CdTe polycrystalline thin film was deposited on p-type monocrystalline Si substrate via magnetron sputtering technology without an oxygen portion using a well-designed post-processing method under N2:O2 = 4:1, and then CdTe films were etched on the Si surface by Br2-CH3OH solution to analyze the surface and interfacial characteristics of CdTe/Si such as structure, morphology, optics interdiffusion, and intermediate compounds. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results indicate that the polycrystalline CdTe grow preferentially in the (111) direction, and Raman data demonstrate that the CdTe thin film is rich in tellurium, meaning that CdTe, as a p-type semiconductor material, combined with p-Si to form a composite structure. Meanwhile, photoluminescence (PL) spectra suggest that p-CdTe/p-Si under high thermal processing can effectively remove ~1.40 eV defect level, which indicates that the CdTe layer has a lower recombination center. It is particularly worth mentioning that x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), XRD, and Raman analysis confirm the Te–Si intermediate compounds at the CdTe/Si interface, which is very conducive to optimizing the contact characteristics of CdTe/Si, thereby improving the interfacial properties of CdTe/Si. This work reveals a potentially effective way to improve the performance of photoelectric devices by introducing poly-CdTe/Si as a composite structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work is study of physical and chemical properties of dust of the Pre-Aral region of Uzbekistan such as Karakalpakstan and Khorezm that are located near the three deserts such as the Aralkum, Karakum, and Kyzylkum. The dust particles fell on glass have been collected in Karakalpakstan and Khorezm and studied systematically by employing wide range of methods. Particle volume vs size distribution has been measured with maximum around 600 nm and ~ 10 µm. The major and minor constituent materials present in the dust have been studied systematically by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray diffraction, and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. Main characteristic absorption bands corresponding to Si–O, Si–O-Si bonding in quartz and Fe–O bonds in hematite Fe2O3 have been identified by infrared and Raman spectroscopy. Quartz, hematite, lime, corundum, magnesia, and several other trace minerals have been identified in the dust particles. X-ray diffraction peaks corresponding to quartz, hematite, and corundum are sharp and are found to be more crystalline with some level of disorder. Analysis of the particle size and crystallinity on human being has been performed: disordered or crystalline quartz can create the lung disease; the particles in the size of 0.5–0.7 µm may produce diseases such as chronic silicosis, silicosis, and silica tuberculosis whereas hematite might create lung disease. Dust particles worsen optical transmittance of glass of the panels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, CdS thin films were deposited on glass/fluorine-doping tin oxide (FTO) substrates by low-cost chemical bath deposition (CBD), followed by annealing with CdCl2-doping (Cl-doping) to fabricate resistive-type photodetectors (PDs) with a vertical structure of glass/FTO/CBD-CdS:Cl/electrode. The effect of annealing with Cl-doping (AwCl) on the various properties of films and the photodetection performance of PDs were systematically characterized by special testing methods. The results revealed that the surface morphology and crystal structure of CBD-CdS:Cl films were improved, accompanied by an enhancement of hexagonal phase (002) crystal plane (wurtzite structure), and the optical bandgap of films can be adjusted between 2.43 and 2.26 eV while the electron activation energy of the films was reduced from 75.9 to 10.3 meV after AwCl. Furthermore, the light responsivity of CBD-CdS:Cl PDs were 0.57, 0.59 and 1.67 A/W under 365, 400 and 530 nm illumination at a bias of −2.0 V, respectively, and the detectivity of photons at corresponding wavelengths were 3.7 × 108, 3.9 × 108 and 1.08 × 109 Jones. Meanwhile, the PDs showed optimized repeatability and improved sensitivity under periodic illumination. The above results demonstrated that the CBD-CdS:Cl PDs with a vertical structure developed in this work had good detection performance at certain characteristic wavelengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminum antimony (AlSb) is a kind of promising III–V material for solar cells and AlSb films that can be used as absorber layer in the thin-film solar cells. In this paper, AlSb thin films are fabricated on FTO substrate by DC magnetron sputtering using AlSb:Zn target. In order to prevent the AlSb films from deliquescence, electronic thin-film packaging with back contact is presented. The electronic packaging consists of three thin-film layers, and they are Ni/acrylic resin and Ni layers, respectively. The two Ni films are connected by lots of via holes. The three layers form a multilayer Ni/acrylic resin/Ni which is electroconductive. Protect effect of the electronic packaging is evaluated by observing the change of its surface by SEM. Experimental result shows that the AlSb films without any protection are damaged badly by the moisture when it is left in the air for 30 days. But the AlSb films with electronic packaging are not damaged under the same conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report use of lithium chloride (LiCl) as a non-Cd dopant to deal with the environmental issues associated with use of traditional CdCl dopant in CdTe solar cells. It has been found that, after LiCl treatment, device performance parameters including external quantum efficiency and conversion efficiency were improved considerably, being comparable to those of a counterpart treated with CdCl. The optimal efficiency of 9.58% was obtained at 405°C, and V as high as ∼737.3 mV was obtained at 385°C. Thorough study of the properties of the CdTe film treated by LiCl by x-ray diffraction analysis, scanning electron microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and secondary-ion mass spectroscopy further verified the feasibility of posttreatment with nontoxic LiCl for fabrication of CdTe photovoltaic devices. The doping level of p-type CdTe thin film was improved by lithium. This represents a nontoxic approach for fabrication of commercial CdS/CdTe thin-film solar cells with better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CdTe films have been prepared by close-spaced sublimation under different conditions. When CdTe is deposited at a low temperature, grains with a single predominant growth plane (111) adhere to the substrate and gather into scattered particles. With increasing deposition temperature, the number of CdTe grains on the substrate increases very quickly, the grains begin to form a quasi-continuous film, and (220), (311), (400), and (331) growth planes of CdTe begin to appear. When the deposition temperature and time are increased further, the CdTe grains begin to accumulate, the pin-holes formed initially begin to disappear, and grain boundaries with traces of layer growth can be observed. Different transmittance of samples of different thickness is clearly apparent but changes of the band gap, E, of the CdTe films is negligible. XPS results suggest CdTeO is generated on the CdTe film surface as the deposition time is increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the effects of different CdCl annealing methods, including vapor annealing and dip-coating annealing, on the performance of CdS/CdTe polycrystalline thin-film solar cells are studied. After annealing, the samples are lightly etched with 1% bromine in methanol to remove surface oxides. Both annealing methods give CdTe polycrystalline thin films with good crystallinity and complete structure. For solar cells containing the annealed CdTe films, cell efficiency first increases and then decreases as the concentration of CdCl solution used for dip-coating annealing increases, and the optimized CdCl concentration is 12%. The uniformity of the performance of all cells is analyzed by calculating the relative standard deviation for each parameter. The uniformity of cell performance can be improved dramatically by dip-coating annealing instead of vapor annealing. Most notably, an appropriate concentration of CdCl (12%) acts as a protective layer that is conducive to realizing uniform high-performance CdS/CdTe solar cells. According to the location of depletion regions, the CdTe films treated by dip-coating annealing show a relatively low doping concentration, except for the sample treated with a CdCl concentration of 6%, which is consistent with the changes of short-circuit current density of the cells. It is believed that these results can be applied to the large-scale production of CdTe polycrystalline thin-film solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CdS thin film was used as a suitable window layer for CdS/CdTe solar cell, and the properties of CdS thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD), chemical bath deposition (CBD) and magnetron sputtering (MS) were reported. The experimental results show that the transmittances of PLD-CdS thin films are about 85% and the band gaps are about 2.38-2.42eV. SEM results show that the surface of PLD-CdS thin film is much more compact and uniform. PLD is more suitable to prepare the CdS thin films than CBD and MS. Based on the thorough study, by using totally PLD technique, the FTO/PLD-CdS(150 nm)/CSS-CdTe solar cell (0.0707 cm) can be prepared with an efficiency of 10.475%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CdTe thin film solar cells with a doped-graphite paste back contact layer were studied using admittance spectroscopy technology. The positions and the capture cross sections of energy level in the forbidden band were calculated, which are the important parameters to affect solar cell performance. The results showed that there were three defects in the CdTe thin films solar cells with the doped-graphite paste back contact layer, whose positions in the forbidden band were close to 0.34, 0.46 and 0.51 eV, respectively above the valence band, and capture cross sections were 2.23×10, 2.41×10, 4.38×10 cm, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report the SnO2 thin films with high resistance prepared by magnetic reactive sputtering on the transparent conductive glass covered with SnO2:F layers, and study the structural, optical, and electrical properties of the films before and after annealing, as well as the influence of the annealing on the performance of CdTe solar cells. The results have shown that SnO2 thin films almost have the same structure as SnO2:F, and SnO2 high resistance transparent (HRT) insertion layer between transparent conductive oxide (TCO) and CdS affects little on light transmittance. After introducing the HRT layer, the tunneling leakage caused by the pinholes can be avoided, which effectively protects the p– n junction (Wu et al. Proceedings of NCPV program review meeting AIP, New York, 22–26, 2001). Meanwhile, higher parallel resistivity, fill factor (FF), short-wave response, carrier concentration, and lower dark saturation current density have been achieved. As a result, the conversion efficiency is improved by 14.5%, from 10.3% to 11.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction to: Applied Physics A (2021) 127:560 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-021-04704-5 In this article, the following affiliation for Dr. Mohsen Ghali was missing: Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Kafrelsheikh University, 33516 Kafrelsheikh, Egypt. Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. [Extracted from the article]