Sustainable p-type copper selenide solar material with ultra-large absorption coefficient

Chen, Erica M.; Williams, Logan; Olvera, Alan; Zhang, Cheng; Zhang, Mingfei; Shi, Guangsha; Heron, John T.; Qi, Liang; Guo, L. Jay; Kioupakis, Emmanouil; Poudeu, Pierre F. P.

doi:10.1039/C8SC00873F

Title: Sustainable p-type copper selenide solar material with ultra-large absorption coefficient

Journal Article · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Chemical Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/C8SC00873F· OSTI ID:1439769

^[1];

^[1]; Olvera, Alan ^[1];

^[2]; Zhang, Mingfei ^[1]; Shi, Guangsha ^[1]; Heron, John T. ^[1];

^[1]; Guo, L. Jay ^[2];

^[1];

^[1]

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

Earth-abundant solar absorber materials with large optical absorption coefficients in the visible enable the fabrication of low-cost high-efficiency single and multi-junction thin-film solar cells. Here, we report a new p-type semiconductor, Cu₄TiSe₄ (CTSe), featuring indirect (1.15 eV) and direct (1.34 eV) band gaps in the optimal range for solar absorber materials. CTSe crystallizes in a new noncentrosymmetric cubic structure (space group F$$\bar{4}$$3c) in which CuSe₄ tetrahedra share edges and corners to form octahedral anionic clusters, [Cu₄Se₄]^4-, which in turn share corners to build the three-dimensional framework, with Ti⁴⁺ ions located at tetrahedral interstices within the channels. The unique crystal structure and the Ti 3d orbital character of the conduction band of CTSe give rise to near-optimal band gap values and ultra-large absorption coefficients (larger than 10⁵ cm^-1) throughout the visible range, which are promising for scalable low-cost high-efficiency CTSe-based thin-film solar cells.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Univ. of California, Riverside, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0008574; AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1439769

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1505219

Journal Information:: Chemical Science, Journal Name: Chemical Science Vol. 9 Journal Issue: 24; ISSN 2041-6520

Publisher:: Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United Kingdom

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 17 works

Citation information provided by
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