1 resultado para ZNSE

em CaltechTHESIS


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The prospect of terawatt-scale electricity generation using a photovoltaic (PV) device places strict requirements on the active semiconductor optoelectronic properties and elemental abundance. After reviewing the constraints placed on an "earth-abundant" solar absorber, we find zinc phosphide (α-Zn3P2) to be an ideal candidate. In addition to its near-optimal direct band gap of 1.5 eV, high visible-light absorption coefficient (>104 cm-1), and long minority-carrier diffusion length (>5 μm), Zn3P2 is composed of abundant Zn and P elements and has excellent physical properties for scalable thin-film deposition. However, to date, a Zn3P2 device of sufficient efficiency for commercial applications has not been demonstrated. Record efficiencies of 6.0% for multicrystalline and 4.3% for thin-film cells have been reported, respectively. Performance has been limited by the intrinsic p-type conductivity of Zn3P2 which restricts us to Schottky and heterojunction device designs. Due to our poor understanding of Zn3P2 interfaces, an ideal heterojunction partner has not yet been found.

The goal of this thesis is to explore the upper limit of solar conversion efficiency achievable with a Zn3P2 absorber through the design of an optimal heterojunction PV device. To do so, we investigate three key aspects of material growth, interface energetics, and device design. First, the growth of Zn3P2 on GaAs(001) is studied using compound-source molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE). We successfully demonstrate the pseudomorphic growth of Zn3P2 epilayers of controlled orientation and optoelectronic properties. Next, the energy-band alignments of epitaxial Zn3P2 and II-VI and III-V semiconductor interfaces are measured via high-resolution x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in order to determine the most appropriate heterojunction partner. From this work, we identify ZnSe as a nearly ideal n-type emitter for a Zn3P2 PV device. Finally, various II-VI/Zn3P2 heterojunction solar cells designs are fabricated, including substrate and superstrate architectures, and evaluated based on their solar conversion efficiency.