Nanocrystalline ZnSnN2 Prepared by Reactive Sputtering, Its Schottky Diodes and Heterojunction Solar Cells

Abstract

ZnSnN2 has potential applications in photocatalysis and photovoltaics. However, the difficulty in preparing nondegenerate ZnSnN2 hinders its device application. Here, the preparation of low-electron-density nanocrystalline ZnSnN2 and its device application are demonstrated. Nanocrystalline ZnSnN2 was prepared with reactive sputtering. Nanocrystalline ZnSnN2 with an electron density of approximately 1017 cm−3 can be obtained after annealing at 300 °C. Nanocrystalline ZnSnN2 is found to form Schottky contact with Ag. Both the current I vs. voltage V curves and the capacitance C vs. voltage V curves of these samples follow the related theories of crystalline semiconductors due to the limited long-range order provided by the crystallites with sizes of 2–10 nm. The I−V curves together with the nonlinear C−2−V curves imply that there are interface states at the Ag-nanocrystalline ZnSnN2 interface. The application of nanocrystalline ZnSnN2 to heterojunction solar cells is also demonstrated.

Performance evaluation of ZnSnN2 solar cells with Si back surface field using SCAPS-1D: A theoretical study

“…The structures based on ZnSnN 2 semiconductor and their corresponding conversion efficiencies are listed in Table .8 [ [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , 72 , 73 ]. Recent theoretical and experimental studies on various ZnSnN 2 solar cells demonstrate the suitability of this material for enhancing efficiency and reducing costs, as shown in Table 8 .…”

Editorial for the Special Issue “Amorphous and Nanocrystalline Semiconductors: Selected Papers from ICANS 29”

“…This includes topics such as Si-based, oxide, perovskite, 2D thin films and nanostructures, device applications for TFTs, solar cells, and LEDs, as well as memory devices and emerging flexible electronics and neuromorphic applications. For example, new fabrication technologies of amorphous and nanocrystalline thin films, electronic and optical characteristics, and device applications are presented and discussed in [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ], including theoretical work in an ab initio study [ 9 ], controllable growth and formation of Si nanowires [ 1 ], nanocrystals [ 2 ], and quantum dots [ 3 , 4 ]. There are also several papers that cover emerging memory devices.…”

“…There are also several papers that cover emerging memory devices. These include phase change memory [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ] based on amorphous chalcogenide thin films and memristors based on transition metal oxides acting as an artificial synapse [ 10 , 11 , 12 ]; the improvement of electro-luminescence (EL) efficiency Er-doped oxide thin films [ 13 , 14 , 15 ]; 2D semiconductor thin films and perovskite for solar cells and aqueous Zn-air battery [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]; and flexible electronic materials for integrated strain sensors [ 20 , 21 ]. We anticipate that this Special Issue should interest a broad audience in these related fields.…”

“…Such a bilayer structure ETL can not only produce a larger grain size of PSCs but also provide a high current density and reduced hysteresis. Their other paper [ 17 ] demonstrated high-performance Ag/ITO/CuO 2 /ZnSnN 2 /Au heterojunction solar cells. The crucial technique employed was a nanocrystallization process, which can greatly reduce the electron density of the ZnSnN 2 sublayer.…”