Combinatorial insights into doping control and transport properties of zinc tin nitride
Angela N. Fioretti,Angela N. Fioretti,Andriy Zakutayev,Helio Moutinho,Celeste L. Melamed,John D. Perkins,Andrew G. Norman,Mowafak Al-Jassim,Eric S. Toberer,Eric S. Toberer,Adele C. Tamboli,Adele C. Tamboli +11 more
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
In this article, a combinatorial RF co-sputtering approach was used to identify an optimal set of deposition parameters for obtaining as-deposited films with wurtzite crystal structure and carrier density as low as 1.8 × 1018 cm−3.Abstract:
ZnSnN2 is an Earth-abundant semiconductor analogous to the III–nitrides with potential as a solar absorber due to its direct bandgap, steep absorption onset, and disorder-driven bandgap tunability. Despite these desirable properties, discrepancies in the fundamental bandgap and degenerate n-type carrier density have been prevalent issues in the limited amount of literature available on this material. Using a combinatorial RF co-sputtering approach, we have explored a growth-temperature-composition space for Zn1+xSn1−xN2 over the ranges 35–340 °C and 0.30–0.75 Zn/(Zn + Sn). In this way, we identified an optimal set of deposition parameters for obtaining as-deposited films with wurtzite crystal structure and carrier density as low as 1.8 × 1018 cm−3. Films grown at 230 °C with Zn/(Zn + Sn) = 0.60 were found to have the largest grain size overall (70 nm diameter on average) while also exhibiting low carrier density (3 × 1018 cm−3) and high mobility (8.3 cm2 V−1 s−1). Using this approach, we establish the direct bandgap of cation-disordered ZnSnN2 at 1.0 eV. Furthermore, we report tunable carrier density as a function of cation composition, in which lower carrier density is observed for higher Zn content. This relationship manifests as a Burstein–Moss shift widening the apparent bandgap as cation composition moves away from Zn-rich. Collectively, these findings provide important insight into the fundamental properties of the Zn–Sn–N material system and highlight the potential to utilize ZnSnN2 for photovoltaics.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Design of nitride semiconductors for solar energy conversion
TL;DR: In this article, the recent advances in the design of novel semiconducting nitrides for solar energy conversion technologies are discussed, with a range of metal chemistries and crystal structures including a brief overview of wurtzite III-N materials and devices.
Journal ArticleDOI
Synthesis, structure, and optoelectronic properties of II–IV–V2 materials
Aaron D. Martinez,Aaron D. Martinez,Angela N. Fioretti,Angela N. Fioretti,Eric S. Toberer,Eric S. Toberer,Adele C. Tamboli,Adele C. Tamboli +7 more
TL;DR: In this article, the potential for new optoelectronic devices based on nitride, phosphide, and arsenide II-IV-V2 materials was considered, which share many of the attractive features of the III-V materials.
Journal ArticleDOI
Band Gap Dependence on Cation Disorder in ZnSnN2 Solar Absorber
Tim D. Veal,Nathaniel Feldberg,Nicholas F. Quackenbush,W. M. Linhart,David O. Scanlon,Louis F. J. Piper,Steven M. Durbin +6 more
TL;DR: The optical absorption edges and carrier densities fall between model curves for cation-ordered orthorhombic and disordered wurtzite ZnSnN2 as discussed by the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
A review of defects and disorder in multinary tetrahedrally bonded semiconductors
Lauryn L. Baranowski,Lauryn L. Baranowski,Pawel Zawadzki,Stephan Lany,Eric S. Toberer,Eric S. Toberer,Andriy Zakutayev +6 more
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Detailed Balance Limit of Efficiency of p‐n Junction Solar Cells
TL;DR: In this article, an upper theoretical limit for the efficiency of p−n junction solar energy converters, called the detailed balance limit of efficiency, has been calculated for an ideal case in which the only recombination mechanism of holeelectron pairs is radiative as required by the principle of detailed balance.
Journal ArticleDOI
Limiting efficiency of silicon solar cells
TL;DR: The detailed balance method for calculating the radiative recombination limit to the performance of solar cells has been extended to include free carrier absorption and Auger recombination in addition to radiative losses.
Journal ArticleDOI
Band-gap determination from diffuse reflectance measurements of semiconductor films, and application to photoelectrochemical water-splitting
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the Kubelka-Munk radiative transfer model to measure the diffuse reflectance of TiO2 semiconductor coatings, such as are used for water splitting, and found that while the band gap wavelength is extended into the visible region, it is overestimated.
Journal ArticleDOI
Kesterite Thin‐Film Solar Cells: Advances in Materials Modelling of Cu2ZnSnS4
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of atomic disorder on the cation sub-lattice, as well as phase separation of Cu2ZnSnS4 into ZnS and CuSnS3, on the material performance for light-to-electricity conversion in photovoltaic devices are discussed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Pathways for solar photovoltaics
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine potential limits to PV deployment at the terawatt scale, emphasizing constraints on the use of commodity and PV-critical materials, and propose material complexity as a guiding framework for classifying PV technologies.