Low-Temperature Two-Step Solution Process for Next-Generation Antimony Chalcohalides Solar Cells

Abstract

Despite the remarkable performance of the organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells, many researchers are looking for an alternative to perovskite to overcome its fatal problems, such as instability and Pb toxicity. Antimony chalcohalide can be a good candidate due to their low-toxicity, defect-tolerant properties and unique features. In this work, we introduce a versatile two-step solution process for the fabrication of antimony chalcohalide thin films and its application to the planar solar cells. The method consists of two steps: deposition of antimony chalcogenide Sb2Ch3 (Ch=S,Se) and its conversion to antimony chalcohalide SbChI. Antimony chalcogenide was fabricated by thiol-amine based solution approach. Conversion to SbChI was performed by spin coating SbI3 solution and subsequent heating. With this method, we have successfully fabricated high quality Sb(S,Se)I controllably at a low temperature and applied to the solar cells.