Abstract
•The AgSe thin films were successfully synthesized by the thermal evaporation technique.•The structural and optical properties of the AgSe layer were discussed.•The mechanism conductivity for AgSe and CdTe layers was determined.•The effect of temperature for the n-AgSe/p-CdTe solar cell was discussed.
Because the previous works on Silver Selenide (AgSe) thin films were insufficient, incomplete, and lacking in-depth, the current study explores deeper into AgSe thin films. The current study is unique in that it examines the effect of annealing temperature on the structural, optical, and thermoelectrical properties of the thermally evaporated AgSe thin film, as well as the effect of temperature on the photovoltaic characteristics of the fabricated Ni/n-AgSe/p-CdTe/Pt solar cell in the range of (298–425 K). The pristine thin film was noncrystalline, while the rest of the annealed samples showed crystalline behavior, according to the results of the X-ray patterns (XRD) and the scanning electron microscope (SEM) examinations. Structural parameters for annealed samples were calculated. On the optical side, the number, and the type of dominant optical transitions were determined. It seemed evident that an allowed direct transition was the dominant one. The optical constants, the optical parameters, the dielectric constants, the energy loss functions, the optical and electrical conductivity were also calculated. On the electrothermal side, the results confirmed that the AgSe thin layer has n-type conductivity, while the CdTe thin layer has a p-type conductivity. The photovoltaic characteristics of the fabricated Ni/n-AgSe/p-CdTe/Pt solar cell were studied in the dark and illuminated conditions and at bias voltages in the range of (−3 to 3 volt). The highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) was for the annealed AgSe layer at 425 K. Based on this, we can confirm that the thin film annealed at 425 K is the best layer in the fabricated solar cells.