Exploring the growth mechanism of CuSbSe₂ thin film prepared by electrodeposition

Abstract

Copper antimony selenium (CuSbSe₂) has advantages of adjustable band gaps from 1.09 eV to 1.2 eV, high light absorption coefficient (>10⁵ cm⁻¹), and low grain generation temperature (300–400 °C), which is suitable for the preparation of solar cells. However, the stable range of CuSbSe₂ (CASe) phase is narrow, which is inevitable to form Sb₂Se₃ and Cu₃SbSe₄ second phase during the preparation process. In this work, selenization annealing of Sb/Cu metal layer to prepare CASe thin films with pulse electrodeposition process was studied, and the growth mechanism of CASe film was analyzed. Cu and Sb reacted with Se to form Cu₂Se and Sb₂Se₃, respectively. Then Cu₂Se and Sb₂Se₃ further reacted to generate CASe. Since the formation temperature of Cu₃SbSe₄ was lower than that of CASe, the preferential formation of Cu₃SbSe₄ led to layer separation. When the annealing temperature was too high, CASe decomposed to form Cu₃SbSe₃ and Sb₂Se₃. Additionally, by increasing the heating rate, the separation of CASe thin films was effectively improved, and the CASe thin films with relatively high crystallinity were obtained at 360 °C with heating rate of 30 °C/min and selenization time of 20 min.

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