Thermal analysis and synthesis from the melts of Cu-based quaternary compounds Cu–III–IV–VI4 and Cu2–II–IV–VI4 (II=Zn,Cd; III=Ga,In; IV=Ge,Sn; VI=Se)

Electronic and optical properties of substitutional V, Cr and Ir impurities in Cu2ZnSnS4

“…The main difference in the band structure between the HLP and SLP is a lower band gap when the SLP are used. These results present the well-known gapunderestimation problem with respect to the experimental data (1.4-1.6eV [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]). Nevertheless, these results present a lower underestimation than other theoretical data in the literature with similar methods (-0.09 eV using the GGA [20,21]), although larger than more sophisticated hybrid functional methods (~1.5 eV [20,21]).…”

“…A broad range of techniques have been explored to deposit CZTS films: sulfurization of sputtered [3][4][5] or evaporated [6] stacked films, spray method [7,8], sol-gel method [9], hydrazine deposition [10], and electrode deposition [11]. Their properties have been extensively studied both experimentally [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] and theoretically [20][21][22][23]. The experimental samples usually crystallize in kesterite-type structure because it is more stable thermodynamically than the stannite-type, although the stannite-type structure can be formed through a two step process [24], In addition to the relatively abundant constituents, with low-cost and nontoxic, CZTS has potentially interesting properties for optoelectronic devices.…”

Preparation and optical characterization of Cu2ZnGeSe4 thin films

“…Cu 2 ZnGeSe 4 (CZGSe) quaternary compound is considered to be a potential absorber material for photovoltaic applications [1][2][3][4]. In addition, the material in nanostructured form shows very promising thermoelectric properties with a figure of merit up to 0.55 at 450 °C [5].…”

“…Only few experimental works on the structural [6][7][8][9], optical [1,[10][11][12][13][14][15] and electrical properties [16] of CZGSe films [10,11] and bulk [1,[12][13][14][15][16] by using various techniques, such as absorption [1,12] ellipsometry [14], Raman [15], transport [16] and far infrared spectroscopy [13] have been reported. The band-gap energy value of 1.29-1.65 eV for CZGSe [1,[10][11][12]14] is in the optimum range for a single junction solar cell [17].…”

“…The band-gap energy value of 1.29-1.65 eV for CZGSe [1,[10][11][12]14] is in the optimum range for a single junction solar cell [17]. Several first-principles studies [2,[18][19][20][21] have been performed to investigate the phase stability and electronic structure of these materials.…”