skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: A Processing Route to Chalcogenide Perovskites Alloys with Tunable Band Gap via Anion Exchange
Abstract The synthesis of BaZr(S,Se)3chalcogenide perovskite alloys is demonstrated by selenization of BaZrS3thin films. The anion‐exchange process produces films with tunable composition and band gap without changing the orthorhombic perovskite crystal structure or the film microstructure. The direct band gap is tunable between 1.5 and 1.9 eV. The alloy films made in this way feature one‐hundred‐times stronger photoconductive response and a lower density of extended defects, compared to alloy films made by direct growth. The perovskite structure is stable in high‐selenium‐content thin films with and without epitaxy. The manufacturing‐compatible process of selenization in H2Se gas may spur the development of chalcogenide perovskite solar cell technology.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2224948
PAR ID:
10640985
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Advanced Functional Materials
Volume:
34
Issue:
44
ISSN:
1616-301X
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract Chalcogenide perovskites have emerged as promising semiconductor materials due to their appealing properties, including tunable bandgaps, high absorption coefficients, reasonable carrier lifetimes and mobilities, excellent chemical stability, and environmentally benign nature. However, beyond the well‐studied BaZrS3, reports on chalcogenide perovskite thin films with diverse compositions are scarce. In this study, the realization of four different types of chalcogenide perovskite thin films with controlled phases, through CS2annealing of amorphous chalcogenide precursor films deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD), is reported. This achievement is guided by a thorough theoretical investigation of the phase stability of chalcogenide perovskites. Upon crystallization in the distorted perovskite phase, all materials exhibit photoluminescence (PL) with peak positions in the visible range, consistent with their expected bandgap values. However, the full‐width‐at‐half‐maximum (FWHM) of the PL spectra varies significantly across these materials, ranging from 99 meV for SrHfS3to 231 meV for BaHfS3. The difference is attributed to the difference in kinetic barriers between local structural motifs for the Sr and Ba compounds. The findings underscore the promise of chalcogenide perovskite thin films as an alternative to traditional halide perovskites for optoelectronic applications, while highlighting the challenges in optimizing their synthesis and performance. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract The making of BaZrS3thin films by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is demonstrated. BaZrS3forms in the orthorhombic distorted‐perovskite structure with corner‐sharing ZrS6octahedra. The single‐step MBE process results in films smooth on the atomic scale, with near‐perfect BaZrS3stoichiometry and an atomically sharp interface with the LaAlO3substrate. The films grow epitaxially via two competing growth modes: buffered epitaxy, with a self‐assembled interface layer that relieves the epitaxial strain, and direct epitaxy, with rotated‐cube‐on‐cube growth that accommodates the large lattice constant mismatch between the oxide and the sulfide perovskites. This work sets the stage for developing chalcogenide perovskites as a family of semiconductor alloys with properties that can be tuned with strain and composition in high‐quality epitaxial thin films, as has been long‐established for other systems including Si‐Ge, III‐Vs, and II‐VIs. The methods demonstrated here also represent a revival of gas‐source chalcogenide MBE. 
    more » « less
  3. Antimony selenide (Sb2Se3) is a promising material for solar energy conversion due to its low toxicity, high stability, and excellent light absorption capabilities. However, Sb2Se3 films produced via physical vapor deposition often exhibit Se-deficient surfaces, which result in a high carrier recombination and poor device performance. The conventional selenization process was used to address selenium loss in Sb2Se3 solar cells with a substrate configuration. However, this traditional selenization method is not suitable for superstrated Sb2Se3 devices with the window layer buried underneath the Sb2Se3 light absorber layer, as it can lead to significant diffusion of the window layer material into Sb2Se3 and damage the device. In this work, we have demonstrated a rapid thermal selenization (RTS) technique that can effectively selenize the Sb2Se3 absorber layer while preventing the S diffusion from the buried CdS window layer into the Sb2Se3 absorber layer. The RTS technique significantly reduces carrier recombination loss and carrier transport resistance and can achieve the highest efficiency of 8.25%. Overall, the RTS method presents a promising approach for enhancing low-dimensional chalcogenide thin films for emerging superstrate chalcogenide solar cell applications. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract Chalcogenide perovskites have garnered interest for applications in semiconductor devices due to their excellent predicted optoelectronic properties and stability. However, high synthesis temperatures have historically made these materials incompatible with the creation of photovoltaic devices. Here, we demonstrate the solution processed synthesis of luminescent BaZrS3and BaHfS3chalcogenide perovskite films using single‐phase molecular precursors at sulfurization temperatures of 575 °C and sulfurization times as short as one hour. These molecular precursor inks were synthesized using known carbon disulfide insertion chemistry to create Group 4 metal dithiocarbamates, and this chemistry was extended to create species, such as barium dithiocarboxylates, that have never been reported before. These findings, with added future research, have the potential to yield fully solution processed thin films of chalcogenide perovskites for various optoelectronic applications. 
    more » « less
  5. Abstract Chalcogenide perovskites, particularly BaZrS3, hold promise for optoelectronic devices owing to their exceptional light absorption and inherent stability. However, thin films obtained at lower processing temperatures typically result in small grain sizes and inferior transport properties. Here we introduce an approach employing co-sputtering elemental Ba and Zr targets followed by CS2sulfurization, with a judiciously applied NaF capping layer. NaF acts as a flux agent during sulfurization, leading to marked increase in grain size and improved crystallinity. This process results in near-stoichiometric films with enhanced photoresponse. Terahertz spectroscopy further reveals a carrier mobility more than two orders of magnitude higher than those obtained from field-effect transistor measurements, suggesting that bulk transport is limited by grain boundary scattering. Our results demonstrate flux-assisted sulfurization as an effective strategy to improve the crystallinity of chalcogenide perovskite thin films for optoelectronic applications. Graphical abstract 
    more » « less