| Summary: | In recent years, research attention has increasingly focused on thin-film photovoltaics utilizing Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> as an ideal absorber layer. This compound is favored due to its abundance, non-toxic nature, long-term stability, and the potential to employ various cost-effective and scalable vapor deposition (PVD) routes. On the other hand, improving passivation, surface treatment and p-type carrier concentration is essential for developing high-performance and commercially viable Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> solar cells. In this study, Cu-doped Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> solar devices were fabricated using two distinct PVD techniques, pulsed electron deposition (PED) and radio frequency magnetron sputtering (RFMS). Furthermore, 5%Cu:Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> films grown via PED exhibited high open-circuit voltages (V<sub>OC</sub>) of around 400 mV but very low short-circuit current densities (J<sub>SC</sub>). Conversely, RFMS-grown Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> films resulted in low V<sub>OC</sub> values of around 300 mV and higher J<sub>SC</sub>. To enhance the photocurrent, we employed strategies involving a thin NaF layer to introduce controlled local doping at the back interface and a bilayer p-doped region grown sequentially using PED and RFMS. The optimized Sb<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> bilayer solar cell achieved a maximum efficiency of 5.25%.
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