Chemical synthesis, characterization and theoretical investigations of stannite phase CuZn₂AlS₄ nanocrystals

Abstract

The stannite-phase CuZn2AlS4 nanocrystals strongly absorb at visible wavelengths, which is suitable for solar energy material applications.

Electronic structure and optical properties of iron based chalcogenide FeX2 (X = S, Se, Te) for photovoltaic applications: a first principle study

“…4 is plotted for further understanding of the electronic properties. It also shows the direct band nature of CZMS, similar to the reported literature of CuZn 2 GaS 4 [9] and CuZn 2 AlS 4 compounds [10]. Around the Fermi energy (E F ), the d orbital of Cu hybridized with S-p in edge of valance band.…”

“…It has been found that the compounds have band gap values of range ~1.20-1.72 eV in the visible region and have high absorption values, which indicate that these compounds offer decent optical properties to be used as inexpensive and nontoxic active layers in photovoltaic applications. The structural stability, structure, and composition, band structure of CuZn 2 AlS 4 has been reported earlier [10]. However, there is no systematic theoretical investigation to elucidate the structural, optoelectronic, and band structure properties of stannite and kesterite phase CuZn 2 InS 4 and CuZn 2 GaS 4 compounds.…”

“…The I 2 -II-IV-VI 4 compound especially Cu 2 -II-IV-VI 4 quaternary semiconductors have been studied both experimentally and theoretically in recent research of thin film solar cell due to its optimum value of band gap (≈1.5 eV) and high-value of absorption coefficient (≈10 4 -10 5 cm -1 ) [3][4][5][6][7]. However, in literature, the studies of Cu-II are synthesized in stannite or cubic structure and reported their various properties quite limited [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Using many possible atomic variations, these emerging chalcogenides groups opens new era for finding materials with suitable characteristics.…”

Recent advances in rational structure design for nonlinear optical crystals: leveraging advantageous templates

“…223,224 Experimental findings have demonstrated that these compounds have relatively large bandgaps, high SHG coefficients (2.76 eV and 1.8 × AGS for AgZnPS 4 and 3.38 eV and 0.8 × AGS for LiZnPS 4 ), and moderate birefringence values (0.05–0.08), indicating their potential as IR NLO materials deserving further investigation. However, in the case of the I-II 2 - III -S 4 type, structures like wurtzite AgCd 2 GaS 4 225,226 and stannite CuZn 2 AlS 4 , 227,228 which crystallize in the space groups Pmn 2 1 (No. 31) and I 4̄ 2 m (No.…”

Role of Intrinsic Defects in Enhancing the Photoabsorption Capability of CuZn2AlSe4

“…The stannite phase CuZn 2 AlS 4 (CZAS) is an interesting material having a direct band gap (1.61 eV) with a suitable position of valence (5.4 eV) and conduction band (3.8 eV) and a relatively high absorption coefficient (≥10 5 cm –1 ) . Recently, Ghosh and co-workers , have synthesized CuZn 2 AS 4 and Cu 2 ZnAS 4– x (A = Al, Ga, In) semiconductors in which stannite phase is found to be more stable than zinc blende-, orthorhombic-, wurtzite-, and kesterite-type structures. Their results highlight the importance of low-cost absorber photovoltaic materials in solar energy applications due to their direct band gap (1.20–1.72 eV) and high optical absorption (>10 4 cm –1 ).…”