Effect of annealing on conversion efficiency of nanostructured CdS/CuInSe2 heterojunction thin film solar cell prepared by chemical ion exchange route at room temperature

We report, the effect of air annealing on solar conversion efficiency of chemically grown nanostructured heterojunction thin films of CdS/CuInSe₂, such 100, 200 and 300 °C air annealed thin films characterized for physicochemical and optoelectronic properties. XRD pattern obtained from annealed thin films confirms tetragonal crystal geometry of CuInSe₂ and an increase in average crystallite size from 16 to 32 nm. An EDAX spectrum confirms expected and observed elemental composition in thin films. AFM represents high energy induced grain growth and agglomeration due to polygonization process. Increase in optical absorbance strength and decrease in energy band gap from 1.36 to 1.25 eV is observed. Increase in charge carrier concentration from 2 × 10¹⁶ to 8 × 10¹⁷ cm^?3 is observed as calculated from Hall effect measurements and an enhancement in solar conversion efficiency from 0.26 to 0.47% is observed upon annealing.