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The purpose of this work is to study the influence of the annealing temperature on the structural, morphological, compositional and optical properties of CuSbSe2 thin films electrodeposited in a single step. CuSbSe2 thin films were grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)/glass substrates using the aqueous electrodeposition technique, then annealed in a tube furnace under nitrogen at temperatures spanning from 250 to 500 °C. The resulting films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis, Raman spectroscopy and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The annealing temperature plays a fundamental role on the films structural properties; in the range 250–350 °C the formation of pure CuSbSe2 phase from electrodeposited binary selenides occurs. From 400 to 500 °C, CuSbSe2 undergoes a preferential phase orientation change, as well as the increasing formation of copper-rich phases such as Cu3SbSe3 and Cu3SbSe4 due to the partial decomposition of CuSbSe2 and to the antimony losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article features the month's question on the cover story "My Quality Hero," and readers' reactions to the previous month's question on quality tools and basic approaches to quality.

In this study, SnO 2 and Al doped SnO 2 were prepared via an easy sol gel procedure, the characteristics related to structural, morphological, electronic and optical properties of tin dioxide (SnO 2) doped with aluminum were investigated across various concentration (4.16 %, 2.08 %, 0 %) are reported using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) and Boltzmann transport theory. SEM revealed spherical nanoparticles with mild agglomeration. EDX confirmed uniform composition. XRD indicated a tetragonal crystal structure, and Al doping caused lattice distortion. Optical transmittance was high in the visible range with efficient UV cut-off. Ab-initio computations were conducted, comparing the Perdew, Burke, and Ernzerhof generalized gradient (PBE-GGA) approach with the Tran-Blaha Modified Becke-Johnson (TB-mBJ) approximation. These calculations were used to determine the band structure, density of states, reflectivity, absorption coefficient, transmittance, refractive index, and extinction coefficient. The computed band structure and density of states (DOS) illustrate that the aluminum (Al) atom serves as a prevalent acceptor in SnO 2 , it diminishes the band gap of this material from 3.23 eV for undoped SnO 2 to 3.15 eV for Al (2 %) doped SnO 2 , the Fermi level shifts to the valence band and the material exhibits a p-type semiconductor type. The optical characteristics reveal that with the rise in aluminum concentration, transparency improves, and the absorption spectrum displays a notable blue shift. Additionally, high static values of the dielectric constant and refractive index, along with low reflectivity, have been observed in the visible region. [Display omitted] • ASO altered electronic properties. • Al doping enhances transparency and absorption. • The study confirms a tetragonal structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]