Two different doping techniques, oxygen intercalation and Mg cation
substitution, were investigated in thin film p-type CuScO₂, a wide band gap
semiconductor with the delafossite structure. Films rf-sputtered onto amorphous SiO₂
substrates were polycrystalline after post-deposition annealing. X-ray diffraction was
used to determine that the films are predominantly polycrystalline 3R...
The variegated aqueous chemistries of metal cations are applied to the design and synthesis of non-toxic solution precursors suitable for additive printing of large-area oxide electronics. Polycondensation behaviors of aqueous Al+3 and PO4 +3 are manipulated in the deposition of atomically smooth amorphous aluminum oxide phosphate (AlPO) dielectric films. AlPO...
The atomic solid state energy (SSE) scale is introduced as a tool for inorganic materials design. The SSE scale is obtained by assessing an average electron affinity (EA) (for a cation) or an average ionization potential (IP) (for an anion) for each atom using data from compounds having that specific...
BaCuChF (Ch = S, Se, Te) materials are chalcogen-based transparent conductors with wide optical band gaps (2.9 – 3.5 eV) and a high concentration of free holes (10¹⁸ – 10²⁰ cm⁻³) caused by the presence of copper vacancies. Chalcogen vacancies compensate copper vacancies in these materials, setting the Fermi level...
In situ photoemission spectroscopy experiments are used to characterize the interface between ZnTe and the wide band gap p-type semiconductor BaCuSeF. The contact is characterized by a null valence-band offset, a large conduction-band offset, and a chemically graded interface. By applying the transitivity rule for band offset and on the...
SnS is a potential earth-abundant photovoltaic (PV) material. Employing both theory and experiment to assess the PV relevant properties of SnS, we clarify on whether SnS has an indirect or direct band gap and what is the minority carrier effective mass as a function of the film orientation. SnS has...
Thin films of the p-type semiconductor, barium copper sulfide fluoride (BaCuSF) were deposited using pulsed laser deposition. Similar p-type conductivity in Cu2O is caused by copper vacancies. Addition of copper dopant is proposed as a method for filling the copper vacancies in BaCuSF. The films are characterized to determine quality...
This dissertation outlines two approaches for improving the efficiency and reducing the cost of photovoltaic energy generation. First, the structures of known binary copper and iron compounds are used to choose the promising compositions Fe₂XS₄ (X = Si, Ge), Cu₃TaQ₄ (Q = Se, Te), and BaCuQ'F (Q' = S, Se,...
The p-type semiconductor Cu₃PSe₄ has recently been established to have a direct band gap of 1.4 eV and an optical absorption spectrum similar to GaAs [Foster et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 181903 (2011)], suggesting a possible application as a solar photovoltaic absorber. Here we calculate the thermodynamic stability, defect...
Native point defects, defect complexes, and oxygen impurities in BaCuChF were studied using density
functional theory calculations, self-consistent thermodynamic simulations, and various experimental techniques.
Unintentional p-type conductivity in BaCuChF is explained by the presence of copper vacancies with
transition levels in the valence band. These acceptor-like defects are partially compensated...