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Title: Orbital controlled band gap engineering of tetragonal BiFeO 3 for optoelectronic applications

Journal Article · · Journal of Materials Chemistry C
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/c7tc04160h· OSTI ID:1419252
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5];  [2];  [6]
  1. Univ. of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu (China). School of Physics; Univ. of Manchester (United Kingdom). School of Materials; Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW (Australia). School of Materials
  2. Univ. of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu (China). School of Physics
  3. Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
  4. Xiamen Univ., Xiamen (China). College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; Univ. of Cambridge (United Kingdom). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
  5. Lanzhou City Univ., Lanzhou (China). Dept. of Physics
  6. Univ. of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW (Australia). School of Materials

Bismuth ferrite BiFeO3 (BFO) is an important ferroelectric material for thin-film optoelectronic sensing and potential photovoltaic applications. Its relatively large band gap, however, limits the conversion efficiency of BFO absorber-based PV devices. In this study, based on density functional theory calculations we demonstrate that with well-designed Fe-site elemental substitution, tetragonal BFO can exhibit a much lower fundamental band gap than conventional rhombohedral BFO without forming in-gap electronic states and unravel the underlying mechanisms. Cation atomic size, electronegativity, and crystallographic symmetry are evidenced as critical parameters to tailor the metal 3d – oxygen 2p orbital interactions and thus intrinsically modify electronic structure, particularly, the shape and character of the valence and conduction band edges. With reduced band gap, improved mobility, and uncompromised ferroelectric and magnetic ground states, the present results provide a new strategy of designing high symmetry BFO for efficient optoelectronic applications.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0014607; U1530129; 11774044
OSTI ID:
1419252
Journal Information:
Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Vol. 6, Issue 5; ISSN 2050-7526
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 64 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (7)

Sodium‐Mediated Epitaxial Growth of 2D Ultrathin Sb 2 Se 3 Flakes for Broadband Photodetection journal March 2020
Progress in BiFeO 3 -based heterostructures: materials, properties and applications journal January 2020
Bandgap tailoring of tetragonal BiFeO 3 with different magnetic orders calculated by first–principles calculations journal January 2019
Band-Gap Reduction in ( Bi Cr O 3 ) m / ( Bi Fe O 3 ) n Superlattices: Designing Low-Band-Gap Ferroelectrics journal October 2018
NbS 2 : A Promising p -Type Ohmic Contact for Two-Dimensional Materials journal December 2019
First-principles investigation of bandgap tailoring in tetragonal Bi 2 FeCrO 6 by magnetic ordering and B-site-cation ordering journal September 2019
Band Gap Tuning of Solution-Processed Ferroelectric Perovskite BiFe1–xCoxO3 Thin Films journal January 2019

Figures / Tables (10)