skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Shift current bulk photovoltaic effect in polar materials—hybrid and oxide perovskites and beyond

Journal Article · · npj Computational Materials

Here, the bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE) refers to the generation of a steady photocurrent and above-bandgap photovoltage in a single-phase homogeneous material lacking inversion symmetry. The mechanism of BPVE is decidedly different from the typical p–n junction-based photovoltaic mechanism in heterogeneous materials. Recently, there has been renewed interest in ferroelectric materials for solar energy conversion, inspired by the discovery of above-bandgap photovoltages in ferroelectrics, the invention of low bandgap ferroelectric materials and the rapidly improving power conversion efficiency of metal halide perovskites. However, as long as the nature of the BPVE and its dependence on composition and structure remain poorly understood, materials engineering and the realisation of its true potential will be hampered. In this review article, we survey the history, development and recent progress in understanding the mechanisms of BPVE, with a focus on the shift current mechanism, an intrinsic BPVE that is universal to all materials lacking inversion symmetry. In addition to explaining the theory of shift current, materials design opportunities and challenges will be discussed for future applications of the BPVE.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-07ER46431
OSTI ID:
1434900
Journal Information:
npj Computational Materials, Vol. 2, Issue 1; ISSN 2057-3960
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 208 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (106)

Ultrafast Photovoltaic Response in Ferroelectric Nanolayers journal February 2012
The relation between shift and ballistic currents in the theory of photogalvanic effect journal January 1988
Conversion of Spin into Directed Electric Current in Quantum Wells journal May 2001
Surface Space-Charge Layers in Barium Titanate journal May 1956
Relativistic GW calculations on CH3NH3PbI3 and CH3NH3SnI3 Perovskites for Solar Cell Applications journal March 2014
Wide bandgap tunability in complex transition metal oxides by site-specific substitution journal January 2012
Local-Strain-Induced Charge Carrier Separation and Electronic Structure Modulation in Zigzag ZnO Nanotubes: Role of Built-In Polarization Electric Field journal December 2010
Rashba Spin–Orbit Coupling Enhanced Carrier Lifetime in CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 journal November 2015
Giant bulk photovoltaic effect in thin ferroelectric BaTiO 3 films journal October 2014
Physics and Applications of Bismuth Ferrite journal June 2009
Removal of spin degeneracy in p -SiGe quantum wells demonstrated by spin photocurrents journal August 2002
Rectification and shift currents in GaAs journal February 2002
Switchable Ferroelectric Diode and Photovoltaic Effect in BiFeO 3 journal February 2009
Investigation of microstructural and optical properties of (K,Ba)(Ni,Nb)O3−δ thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition journal October 2016
Semiconducting Tin and Lead Iodide Perovskites with Organic Cations: Phase Transitions, High Mobilities, and Near-Infrared Photoluminescent Properties journal July 2013
Optical Rectification by Impurities in Polar Crystals journal April 1972
Short-circuit photocurrent in epitaxial lead zirconate-titanate thin films journal March 2007
Investigations of the Photovoltaic Tensor in Doped LiNbO3 journal September 1982
Optical rectification and shift currents in GaAs and GaP response: Below and above the band gap journal July 2006
Observation of the orbital circular photogalvanic effect journal March 2009
Band gap engineering strategy via polarization rotation in perovskite ferroelectrics journal April 2014
Theory of the bulk photovoltaic effect in pure crystals journal May 1981
Ultrafast spin-polarized electrical currents injected in a strained zinc blende semiconductor by single color pulses journal February 2005
Bulk photovoltaic effect in polyvinylidene fluoride journal November 1984
Photovoltaic properties of Bi2FeCrO6 epitaxial thin films journal May 2011
Bulk Photovoltaic Effect at Visible Wavelength in Epitaxial Ferroelectric BiFeO 3 Thin Films journal April 2010
On the preparation of pure, doped and reduced KNbO3 single crystals journal May 1978
Optical rectification at semiconductor surfaces journal January 1992
Quantum kinetic theory of shift-current electron pumping in semiconductors journal May 2000
Impact of microstructure on local carrier lifetime in perovskite solar cells journal April 2015
Photoconductivity in certain ferroelectrics journal January 1974
Photoconductivity in BiFeO3 thin films journal March 2008
Spin photocurrents in (110)-grown quantum well structures journal September 2007
Mechanism of the Switchable Photovoltaic Effect in Ferroelectric BiFeO3 journal June 2011
Enhanced photovoltaic currents in strained Fe-doped LiNbO 3 films : Enhanced photovoltaic currents in strained Fe-doped LiNbO journal September 2015
Bulk photovoltaic effect of LiNbO 3 :Fe in the liquid-He temperature range journal October 1994
Efficient Hybrid Solar Cells Based on Meso-Superstructured Organometal Halide Perovskites journal October 2012
Photogalvanic Effects in Heteropolar Nanotubes journal August 2000
The bulk photovoltaic effect in LiNbO 3 , crystals under X-ray synchrotron radiation journal September 1993
Photoexcitation of valley-orbit currents in (111)-oriented silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors journal March 2011
Optically Induced Change of Refractive Indices in LiNbO 3 and LiTaO 3 journal July 1969
Perovskite oxides for visible-light-absorbing ferroelectric and photovoltaic materials journal November 2013
Importance of Spin–Orbit Coupling in Hybrid Organic/Inorganic Perovskites for Photovoltaic Applications journal August 2013
Detailed Balance Limit of Efficiency of p‐n Junction Solar Cells journal March 1961
Prediction of a Linear Spin Bulk Photovoltaic Effect in Antiferromagnets journal January 2013
Soluble Semiconductors AAsSe 2 (A = Li, Na) with a Direct-Band-Gap and Strong Second Harmonic Generation: A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study journal March 2010
Photovoltaic properties of (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 films with different crystallographic orientations journal November 2005
Shift currents from symmetry reduction and Coulomb effects in (110)-orientated GaAs Al 0.3 Ga 0.7 As quantum wells journal October 2007
Above-bandgap voltages from ferroelectric photovoltaic devices journal January 2010
Control of the Susceptibility of Lithium Niobate to Laser‐Induced Refractive Index Changes journal September 1971
The photogalvanic effect in media lacking a center of symmetry journal March 1980
About the complex relation between short-circuit photocurrent, imprint and polarization in ferroelectric thin films journal June 2010
Diode and photocurrent effect in ferroelectric BaTiO 3−δ journal April 2011
Light-induced size changes in BiFeO3 crystals journal July 2010
Confinement-Induced Berry Phase and Helicity-Dependent Photocurrents journal July 2010
Spontaneous Polarization and Bulk Photovoltaic Effect Driven by Polar Discontinuity in LaFeO 3 / SrTiO 3 Heterojunctions journal April 2016
Bandgap tuning of multiferroic oxide solar cells journal November 2014
The emergence of perovskite solar cells journal July 2014
Ferroelectric materials for solar energy conversion: photoferroics revisited journal January 2015
Solitons in Polyacetylene journal June 1979
Role of domain walls in the abnormal photovoltaic effect in BiFeO3 journal November 2013
First-Principles Calculation of the Bulk Photovoltaic Effect in CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 and CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3– x Cl x journal December 2014
Anomalous photovoltage in BaTiO 3 journal January 1976
Hybrid Germanium Iodide Perovskite Semiconductors: Active Lone Pairs, Structural Distortions, Direct and Indirect Energy Gaps, and Strong Nonlinear Optical Properties journal May 2015
Pulse-shaper-assisted coherent control of shift currents journal January 2011
Bulk photovoltaic effect in noncentrosymmetric crystals journal July 2001
Substantial bulk photovoltaic effect enhancement via nanolayering journal January 2016
Evidence of bulk photovoltaic effect and large tensor coefficient in ferroelectric BiFeO 3 thin films journal September 2011
Efficient Photovoltaic Current Generation at Ferroelectric Domain Walls journal September 2011
Photorefractive effects and photocurrents in KNbO3: Fe journal January 1978
First-principles calculation of the bulk photovoltaic effect in the polar compounds LiAsS2, LiAsSe2, and NaAsSe2 journal November 2014
Ultrafast shift and injection currents observed in wurtzite semiconductors via emitted terahertz radiation journal November 2005
Resonant nonlinear susceptibility near the GaAs band gap journal October 1992
Optical rectification and current injection in unbiased semiconductors journal December 2010
Simultaneous generation of shift and injection currents in (110)-grown GaAs∕AlGaAs quantum wells journal October 2006
Quantum Nonlinear Hall Effect Induced by Berry Curvature Dipole in Time-Reversal Invariant Materials journal November 2015
First Principles Calculation of the Shift Current Photovoltaic Effect in Ferroelectrics journal September 2012
Topological nature of nonlinear optical effects in solids journal May 2016
First-principles prediction of an enhanced optical second-harmonic susceptibility of low-dimensional alkali-metal chalcogenides journal June 2009
Giant Bulk Photovoltaic Effect under Linearly Polarized X-Ray Synchrotron Radiation journal February 1995
Structural phase transition, narrow band gap, and room-temperature ferromagnetism in [KNbO3]1−x[BaNi1/2Nb1/2O3−δ]x ferroelectrics journal September 2014
Complete structure and cation orientation in the perovskite photovoltaic methylammonium lead iodide between 100 and 352 K journal January 2015
High‐voltage bulk photovoltaic effect and the photorefractive process in LiNbO 3 journal August 1974
Chemical bond and nonlinear optical effects of crystals journal June 1999
Bulk photovoltaic effect in an organic polar crystal journal January 2014
Bulk Photovoltaic Effect in Reduced/Oxidized Lead Lanthanum Titanate Zirconate Ceramics journal May 1995
Single ferroelectric-domain photovoltaic switch based on lateral BiFeO3 cells journal February 2013
Second-order optical response in semiconductors journal February 2000
First-Principles Calculation of the Bulk Photovoltaic Effect in Bismuth Ferrite journal December 2012
Electron-Hole Diffusion Lengths Exceeding 1 Micrometer in an Organometal Trihalide Perovskite Absorber journal October 2013
Local Mapping of Generation and Recombination Lifetime in BiFeO 3 Single Crystals by Scanning Probe Photoinduced Transient Spectroscopy journal April 2012
Elusive Presence of Chloride in Mixed Halide Perovskite Solar Cells journal September 2014
All-Optically Induced Ultrafast Photocurrents: Beyond the Instantaneous Coherent Response journal November 2012
Tip-enhanced photovoltaic effects in bismuth ferrite journal March 2011
Enhancement of the Bulk Photovoltaic Effect in Topological Insulators journal June 2016
Polarization rotation mechanism for ultrahigh electromechanical response in single-crystal piezoelectrics journal January 2000
Topological aspects of nonlinear excitonic processes in noncentrosymmetric crystals journal July 2016
Conversion of spin into directed electric current in quantum wells text January 2001
Spin photocurrents in (110)-grown quantum well structures text January 2007
Photoexcitation of valley-orbit currents in (111)-oriented silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors text January 2011
Light-induced size changes in BiFeO3 crystals text January 2010
Ferroelectric Materials for Solar Energy Conversion: Photoferroics Revisited text January 2014
Quantum nonlinear Hall effect induced by Berry curvature dipole in time-reversal invariant materials text January 2015
Enhancement of bulk photovoltaic effect in topological insulators text January 2015
Topological aspects of nonlinear excitonic processes in noncentrosymmetric crystals text January 2015
Photogalvanic Effects in Heteropolar Nanotubes text January 2000

Cited By (39)

High‐Order Shift Current Induced Terahertz Emission from Inorganic Cesium Bromine Lead Perovskite Engendered by Two‐Photon Absorption journal August 2019
Terahertz Emission from Hybrid Perovskites Driven by Ultrafast Charge Separation and Strong Electron-Phonon Coupling journal January 2018
Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Effects on the Optical Process in Advanced Materials and Devices journal June 2018
Anomalous Photovoltaic Effect in Centrosymmetric Ferroelastic BiVO 4 journal September 2018
Mutual Insight on Ferroelectrics and Hybrid Halide Perovskites: A Platform for Future Multifunctional Energy Conversion journal August 2019
Functional Oxides for Photoneuromorphic Engineering: Toward a Solar Brain journal June 2019
The Narrowest Band Gap Ever Observed in Molecular Ferroelectrics: Hexane-1,6-diammonium Pentaiodobismuth(III) journal December 2017
Quantum Dots for Hybrid Energy Harvesting: From Integration to Piezo‐Phototronics journal May 2019
Shift current photovoltaic effect in a ferroelectric charge-transfer complex journal August 2017
Switchable magnetic bulk photovoltaic effect in the two-dimensional magnet CrI3 journal August 2019
Giant photovoltaic response in band engineered ferroelectric perovskite journal May 2018
Photo-sensitizing thin-film ferroelectric oxides using materials databases and high-throughput calculations journal January 2019
Impact of electrodes on the extraction of shift current from a ferroelectric semiconductor SbSI journal December 2018
Polarization controlled photovoltaic and self-powered photodetector characteristics in Pb-free ferroelectric thin film journal January 2019
Enhanced bulk photovoltaic response in Sn doped BaTiO 3 through composition dependent structural transformation journal May 2019
Spectral dynamics of shift current in ferroelectric semiconductor SbSI journal January 2019
Spatio-temporal dynamics of shift current quantum pumping by femtosecond light pulse journal March 2019
Optical response of the chiral topological semimetal RhSi journal October 2019
Theory for shift current of bosons: Photogalvanic spin current in ferrimagnetic and antiferromagnetic insulators journal December 2019
Direct observation of shift and ballistic photovoltaic currents journal January 2019
Tetrathienoanthracene and Tetrathienylbenzene Derivatives as Hole-Transporting Materials for Perovskite Solar Cell journal July 2018
Ferroelectric Oxides for Solar Energy Conversion, Multi‐Source Energy Harvesting/Sensing, and Opto‐Ferroelectric Applications journal May 2019
Releasing the hidden shift current in the TTF-CA organic molecular solid via symmetry lowering journal January 2020
Tetragonal CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 is ferroelectric journal June 2017
Towards photoferroic materials by design: recent progress and perspectives journal November 2019
Large Bulk Photovoltaic Response by Symmetry-Breaking Structural Transformation in Ferroelectric [ Ba ( Zr 0.2 Ti 0.8 ) O 3 ] 0.5 [( Ba 0.7 Ca 0.3 ) Ti O 3 ] 0.5 journal April 2019
Nonequilibrium nature of nonlinear optical response: Application to the bulk photovoltaic effect journal January 2020
Ultrafast Spin‐to‐Charge Conversion at the Surface of Topological Insulator Thin Films journal October 2018
The Narrowest Band Gap Ever Observed in Molecular Ferroelectrics: Hexane-1,6-diammonium Pentaiodobismuth(III) journal December 2017
Wannier90 as a community code: new features and applications text January 2020
Orbital controlled band gap engineering of tetragonal BiFeO 3 for optoelectronic applications journal January 2018
Terahertz surface and interface emission spectroscopy for advanced materials journal February 2019
Wannier90 as a community code: New features and applications text January 2020
Spatio-temporal dynamics of shift current quantum pumping by femtosecond light pulse text January 2018
Ab initio calculation of the shift photocurrent by Wannier interpolation text January 2018
Impact of electrodes on the extraction of shift current from a ferroelectric semiconductor SbSI text January 2018
Ultrafast Spin-To-Charge Conversion at the Surface of Topological Insulator Thin Films text January 2018
Theory for shift current of bosons: Photogalvanic spin current in ferrimagnetic and antiferromagnetic insulators text January 2019
Non-equilibrium nature of non-linear optical response: Application to the bulk photo voltaic effect text January 2019

Similar Records

Recent progress in the theory of bulk photovoltaic effect
Journal Article · Wed Jan 18 00:00:00 EST 2023 · Chemical Physics Reviews · OSTI ID:1434900

Substantial bulk photovoltaic effect enhancement via nanolayering
Journal Article · Thu Jan 21 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Nature Communications · OSTI ID:1434900

Phonon-Assisted Ballistic Current from First-Principles Calculations
Journal Article · Wed Apr 28 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Physical Review Letters · OSTI ID:1434900