Recent Advances to Enhance Electrical and Photoelectrical Properties of Antimony Selenide Crystals via Tin Doping

Tin-doped antimony selenide ((Sn\(_x\)Sb\(_{1-x}\))\(_2\)Se\(_3\)) crystals were grown by direct vapour transport to overcome the challenges posed by the high intrinsic electrical resistivity of Sb\(_2\)Se\(_3\). Energy dispersive analysis of x-ray and scanning electron microscopy were performed to determine elemental chemical composition and morphology of the grown crystals. The powder x-ray diffraction spectra revealed that the (Sn\(_x\)Sb\(_{1-x}\))\(_2\)Se\(_3\) crystals possess an orthorhombic crystal lattice structure. Furthermore, all microstructural parameters were evaluated. The Raman spectra of the grown crystals revealed the structure of Sb\(_2\)Se\(_3\) to be unaltered during Sn doping. The value of the optical band gap of (Sn\(_x\)Sb\(_{1-x}\))\(_2\)Se\(_3\) crystals decreased from 1.20 eV to 0.97 eV as the doping concentration of Sn increased from x = 0.00, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20. Moreover, the decomposition kinetic parameters were evaluated using several kinetic models. The electrical, trap-depth and photoresponse parameters were studied in different samples with variations of temperature and illumination intensity. The exceptional performance of the (Sn\(_x\)Sb\(_{1-x}\))\(_2\)Se\(_3\) crystals suggests that they hold promising potential for applications in highly efficient photoelectric and solar devices.