Photovoltaic structures using chemically deposited tin sulfide thin films

Avellaneda, David Avellaneda; Nair, M. T. S.; Nair, P. K.

doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2008.11.043

Cited by 93 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…1 These layered semiconductors are also touted as potential photovoltaic materials due to their high absorption coefficients with bandgaps ranging from around 1 eV to 2.2 eV. [7][8][9] A unique characteristic of this class of materials is that the chalcogenide atoms are chemically saturated and, as a result, the inter-layer interaction along the crystallographic c-axis is mainly by the weak vdW force. 10,11 This type of materials is commonly referred as vdWEs.…”

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confidence: 99%

Molecular beam epitaxy growth of high quality p-doped SnS van der Waals epitaxy on a graphene buffer layer

Wang¹,

Leung²,

Fong³

et al. 2012

Journal of Applied Physics

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We report on the systematic investigation of optoelectronic properties of tin (IV) sulfide (SnS) van der Waals epitaxies (vdWEs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) technique. Energy band simulation using commercial CASTEP code indicates that SnS has an indirect bandgap of size 0.982 eV. Furthermore, our simulation shows that elemental Cu can be used as a p-type dopant for the material. Growth of high quality SnS thin films is accomplished by MBE technique using graphene as the buffer layer. We observed significant reduction in the rocking curve FWHM over the existing published values. Crystallite size in the range of 2–3 μm is observed which is also significantly better than the existing results. Measurement of the absorption coefficient, α, is performed using a Hitachi U-4100 Spectrophotometer system which demonstrate large values of α of the order of 104 cm−1. Sharp cutoff in the values of α, as a function of energy, is observed for the films grown using a graphene buffer layer indicating low concentration of localized states in the bandgap. Cu-doping is achieved by co-evaporation technique. It is demonstrated that the hole concentration of the films can be controlled between 1016 cm−3 and 5 × 1017cm−3 by varying the temperature of the Cu K-cell. Hole mobility as high as 81 cm2V−1s−1 is observed for SnS films on graphene/GaAs(100) substrates. The improvements in the physical properties of the films are attributed to the unique layered structure and chemically saturated bonds at the surface for both SnS and the graphene buffer layer. Consequently, the interaction between the SnS thin films and the graphene buffer layer is dominated by van der Waals force and structural defects at the interface, such as dangling bonds or dislocations, are substantially reduced.

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confidence: 99%

Molecular beam epitaxy growth of high quality p-doped SnS van der Waals epitaxy on a graphene buffer layer

Wang¹,

Leung²,

Fong³

et al. 2012

Journal of Applied Physics

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“…Elements such as tin and sulfur are abundantly available. Tin sulfide has been synthesized using a variety of techniques such as sputtering [127], evaporation [129], electrodeposition [130] as well as chemical routes [131]. The highest reported efficiency to date is 1.3% [132].…”

Section: Other Earth-abundant Candidatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thin Film Solar Cells Using Earth-Abundant Materials

Vasekar¹,

Dhakal²

2013

Solar Cells - Research and Application Perspectives

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“…SnS has the advantages of being naturally abundant, nontoxic, stable under ambient conditions, has a high p type conductivity [1] (hole mobility $ 90 cm 2 V À1 s À1 [2]), a high absorption coefficient (10 4 -10 5 cm À1 at the fundamental absorption edge which varies with the phase [3]), and a wide absorption range (band gap $ 1.3 eV [4][5][6][7][8]) and thus theoretically possesses all the qualities for efficient absorption of solar energy and is suitable for incorporation into photovoltaic cells [9,10] and a variety of other optoelectronic devices [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The local coordination of atoms in a crystal lattice plays an important role in influencing the physical and chemical properties of the material [7,9,[12][13][14][15]. It has been observed that the metastable zinc blende phase appears first during crystallization from solution because its formation is kinetically faster, but eventually transforms into the thermodynamically more stable orthorhombic phase as more energy is provided by increasing the reaction time or temperature [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%