A novel high temperature reduction cleaning (HTRC) process to recover the electrical conductivity of Y-doped barium zirconate electrolytes from Ni contamination.
Zinc phosphide (Zn3P2) has attracted considerable
attention as an environmentally benign and earth-abundant photoabsorber
for thin-film photovoltaics. It is known that interdiffusion occurs
at the Mg/Zn3P2 interface, which is a component
of the record device, but the micro- and nanoscopic structures of
the interface after interdiffusion have been controversial for over
three decades. Here, we report on the formation of a Mg–P–Zn
ternary semiconductor, Mg(Mg
x
Zn1–x
)2P2, at the Mg/Zn3P2 interface. Interestingly, Mg(Mg
x
Zn1–x
)2P2 is epitaxially grown on Zn3P2 with
the orientation relationship of [21̅1̅0](0001)Mg(Mg
x
Zn1–x
)||[100](011)Zn3P2
due to interdiffusion.
The lattice mismatch of the Mg(Mg
x
Zn1–x
)2P2 layer
on the Zn3P2 substrate is less than 0.5%, and
this is favorable for carrier transport across the interface. Mg(Mg
x
Zn1–x
)2P2 is the material suggested as “n-type
Mg-doped Zn3P2” or “a Mg–P–Zn
alloy” in the previous studies. Thus, only the optimization
of Mg treatment as conducted in the previous studies is insufficient
for the improvement of the cell performance. This work clarified that
a suitable microstructure and band structure around Mg(Mg
x
Zn1–x
)2P2/Zn3P2 heterointerface should
be established.
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