Photoexcited Carrier Dynamics of Cu2S Thin Films

Riha, Shannon C.; Schaller, Richard D.; Gosztola, David J.; Wiederrecht, Gary P.; Martinson, Alex B. F.

doi:10.1021/jz5021873

Title: Photoexcited Carrier Dynamics of Cu₂S Thin Films

Journal Article · Tue Nov 11 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/jz5021873· OSTI ID:1356992

Riha, Shannon C. ^[1]; Schaller, Richard D. ^[2]; Gosztola, David J. ^[2]; Wiederrecht, Gary P. ^[2]; Martinson, Alex B. F. ^[1]

Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Materials Science Division
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Nanoscience and Technology Division

Copper sulfide is a simple binary material with promising attributes for low-cost thin film photovoltaics. However, stable Cu₂S-based device efficiencies approaching 10% free from cadmium have yet to be realized. In this paper, transient absorption spectroscopy is used to investigate the dynamics of the photoexcited state of isolated Cu₂S thin films prepared by atomic layer deposition or vapor-based cation exchange of ZnS. While a number of variables including film thickness, carrier concentration, surface oxidation, and grain boundary passivation were examined, grain structure alone was found to correlate with longer lifetimes. A map of excited state dynamics is deduced from the spectral evolution from 300 fs to 300 μs. Finally, revealing the effects of grain morphology on the photophysical properties of Cu₂S is a crucial step toward reaching high efficiencies in operationally stable Cu₂S thin film photovoltaics.

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Research Organization:: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357; AC05-06OR23100

OSTI ID:: 1356992

Journal Information:: Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, Vol. 5, Issue 22; ISSN 1948-7185

Publisher:: American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 22 works

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Electrospray deposition-induced ambient phase transition in copper sulphide nanostructures Jana, Arijit; Jana, Sourav Kanti; Sarkar, Depanjan Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Vol. 7, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1039/c9ta00003h	journal	January 2019
High-performance nanostructured p-Cu2S/n-Si photodetector prepared by chemical bath deposition technique Ismail, Raid A.; Al‑Samarai, Abdul-Majeed E.; Muhammed, Ali M. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, Vol. 30, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-019-01554-z	journal	May 2019
Noble-metal-free Cu ₂ S-modified photocatalysts for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production by forming nanoscale p–n junction structure Chen, Yubin; Qin, Zhixiao; Wang, Xixi RSC Advances, Vol. 5, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1039/c5ra00091b	journal	January 2015
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Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
atomic layer deposition
Cu2S thin films
photophysical properties
photovoltaics
thin film solar cell
transient absorption spectroscopy

Title: Photoexcited Carrier Dynamics of Cu2S Thin Films

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References (37)

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Title: Photoexcited Carrier Dynamics of Cu₂S Thin Films