It is well known that sodium at grain boundaries (GBs) increases the photovoltaic efficiencies of CuInSe 2 and Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 significantly. However, the mechanism of how sodium influences the GBs is still unknown. Based on the recently proposed self-passivation rule, it is found that the dangling bonds in the GBs can completely be saturated through doping the Na, thus GB states are successfully passivated. It is shown that the Na can easily incorporate into the GB with very low formation energy. Although Cu can also passivate the GB states, it requires a copper rich condition which, however, suppresses the formation of copper vacancies in the bulk and thus decreases the concentration of hole carriers, so copper passivation is practically not as beneficial as sodium. The present work reveals the mechanism about how the Na enhances the photovoltaic performance through passivating the dangling bonds in the GBs of chalcogenide semiconductors, and sheds light on how to passivate dangling bonds in GBs with alterative processes.
Between 2014 and 2016 the annual mean total extent of Antarctic sea ice decreased by a record, unprecedented amount of 1.6 3 10 6 km 2 , the largest in a record starting in the late 1970s. The mechanisms behind such a rapid decrease remain unknown. Using the outputs of a high-resolution, global ocean-sea ice model we show that the change was predominantly a result of record atmospheric low pressure systems over sectors of the Southern Ocean in 2016, with the associated winds inducing strong sea ice drift. Regions of large positive and negative sea ice extent anomaly were generated by both thermal and dynamic effects of the wind anomalies. Although the strong wind forcing also generated the warmest ocean surface state from April to December 2016, we show that enhanced northward sea ice drift and hence increased melting at lower latitudes driven by strong winds made the dominant contribution to the large decrease in total Antarctic sea ice extent between 2014 and 2016.
The theoretical study of grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline semiconductors is currently stalemated by their complicated nature, which is difficult to extract from any direct experimental characterization. Usually, coincidence-site-lattice (CSL) models are constructed simply by aligning two symmetric planes, ignoring various possible reconstructions. Here, we propose a general self-passivation rule to determine the low-energy GB reconstruction, and find new configurations for the CdTe ∑3 (112) GBs. First-principles calculations show that it has lower formation energies than the prototype GBs adopted widely in previous studies. Surprisingly, the reconstructed GBs show self-passivated electronic properties without deep-level states in the band gap. Based on the reconstructed configurations, we revisited the influence of CdCl2 post-treatment on the CdTe GBs, and found that the addition of both Cd and Cl atoms in the GB improves the photovoltaic properties by promoting self-passivation and inducing n-type levels, respectively. The present study provides a new route for further studies of GBs in covalent polycrystalline semiconductors and also highlights that previous studies on the GBs of multinary semiconductors which are based on the unreconstructed prototype GB models, should be revisited.
Open‐circuit voltage (Voc) of kesterite Cu2ZnSn(SSe)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells is severely stalemated by the pinning of fermi energy level due to the excessive p‐type CuZn acceptor near the buffer/absorber interface. Although the formation of CuZn can be suppressed by Ag incorporation, the high formation energy of p‐type AgZn defects results in the expected weak n‐type surface difficult to be maintained. Based on the doping limit rule, it is found that Ag‐based selenized kesterite (Ag2ZnSnSe4) facilitating the formation of n‐type defects by lowering the conduction band is conducive to the stable weak n‐type surface rather than suppressing the formation of p‐type defects by lowering the valence band. Furthermore, Li post‐treatment makes part of strong n‐type region into the expected weak n‐type due to the low formation energy of p‐type LiZn, which is greatly convenient for experimental implementation. This study presents that Ag‐based selenized CZTSSe surface combined with Li post‐treatment is a feasible way to overcome Voc‐deficit of kesterite solar cells and highlights that band edge engineering is a promising way for designing an expected n‐ or p‐type characteristic of chalcogenide semiconductors by extrinsic doping.
The ice shelf water (ISW) plume is a prevalent phenomenon at the base of an ice shelf or sea ice adjacent to the ice shelf front. Such plumes may become supercooled and deposit marine ice when they rise. In the existing frazil ice–laden ISW plume models, it is generally assumed that supercooling and frazil ice growth can be adequately treated by using depth-averaged freezing temperature and vertically uniform frazil ice concentration within a plume. In reality, however, the temperature deficit and frazil ice concentration both increase toward the top of the plume. Hence, frazil crystals typically experience a greater deficit than that suggested by the plume’s temperature subtracted from its depth-averaged freezing point. In this study, the authors considered the combined nonlinear effects of vertical structures of frazil ice concentration and thermal forcing within an ISW plume by introducing equilibrium vertical profiles of frazil ice concentration into a horizontal two-dimensional depth-integrated ISW plume model. A series of idealized numerical experiments and an observation-based simulation beneath the western side of Ronne Ice Shelf have been conducted by using the vertically modified and original depth-integrated ISW plume models. It was found that the supercooled area, supercooling level, and suspended frazil ice and marine ice productivities are all substantially underestimated by the original models. Moreover, the differences are sensitive to the selected frazil ice size configuration. These results suggest that the vertical modification introduced in this study can significantly improve simulated marine ice distribution and its corresponding production, in comparison with those estimated by previous depth-integrated models.
In contrast with the severe thinning of ice shelves along the coast of West Antarctica, large ice shelves (specifically, the Filchner-Ronne and Amery Ice Shelves) with deep grounding lines gained mass during the period 1994-2012. This positive mass budget is potentially associated with the marine ice production, which originates from the supercooled Ice Shelf Water plume carrying suspended frazil ice along the ice shelf base. In addition, the outflow of this supercooled plume from beneath the ice shelf arguably exerts a significant impact on the properties of Antarctic Bottom Water, as well as its production. However, knowledge of this buoyant and supercooled shear flow is still limited, let alone its structure that is generally assumed to be vertically uniform. In this study we extended the vertical one-dimensional model of ice shelf-ocean boundary current from Jenkins (2016) by incorporating a frazil ice module and a fairly sophisticated turbulence closure (i.e., k − ε model) with the effects of density stratification. On the basis of this extended model, the study reproduced the measured thermohaline properties of a perennially-prominent supercooled ice shelf-ocean boundary current underneath the Amery Ice Shelf in East Antarctica, and conducted extensive sensitivity runs to a wide range of factors, including advection of scalar quantities, far-field geostrophic currents, basal slope, and the distribution of frazil ice crystal size. Based on the simulation results, the following conclusions can be drawn: Firstly, it can be difficult to reasonably reproduce the vertical structure of the ice shelf-ocean boundary current using a constant eddy viscosity/diffusivity near the ice shelf base. Secondly, although there are no direct observations of the size of frazil ice crystals beneath the ice shelves, the size of the finest ice crystals that play an important role in controlling the ice shelf-ocean boundary current is strongly suggested. Lastly, but most importantly, the ice shelf-ocean boundary layer response to the vertical gradient of frazil ice concentration will significantly reduce the level of turbulence. Therefore, this study highlights the importance of the strong interaction between frazil ice formation and the hydrodynamics and thermodynamics of ice shelf-ocean boundary layer. This interaction must not only be included, but also be resolved at high resolutions in three-dimensional coupled ice shelf-ocean models applied to cold ice cavities, which will have a potential impact on the overall ice shelf mass balance and the Antarctic Bottom Water production.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.