Chalcogenide Perovskite BaZrS₃: Thin Film Growth by Sputtering and Rapid Thermal Processing

Abstract

Tandem solar cells based on hybrid organic−inorganic metal halide perovskites have reached efficiencies up to 28%, but major concerns for long-term stability and the presence of Pb have raised interest in searching for fully earth-abundant, intrinsic chemically stable, and nontoxic alternatives. With a direct band gap around 1.8 eV and stability in air up to at least 500 °C, BaZrS 3 is a promising candidate. This work presents the first approach of synthesizing a thin film of such compound by sputtering at ambient temperature with a subsequent rapid thermal process. Despite the short fabrication time, the width of the XRD diffraction peaks and the energy and distribution of the photoluminescence response show comparable crystalline quality to that from bulk synthesis methods. Good crystallization required around 900 °C. Such a high temperature could be incompatible with fabrication of tandem solar cells.

Defect tolerance in chalcogenide perovskite photovoltaic material BaZrS3

“…Ti-doping has been attempted to optimize solar light absorption by reducing the band gap [31,36]. Thin films of BaZrS 3 have also been prepared with their electronic and optical properties being reported [37][38][39][40]. Encouragingly, SrHfS 3 has been experimentally demonstrated to exhibit excellent green light-emitting properties [41].…”

Chalcogenide Perovskites and Perovskite-Based Chalcohalide as Photoabsorbers: A Study of Their Properties, and Potential Photovoltaic Applications

“…Even though temperatures needed for crystallization are relatively high, using a much longer reaction, the BaZrS 3 thin-film effectiveness is similar to the solid-state synthesis. Considering the short fabrication time, the breadth of the XRD diffraction signals and photoluminescence response to energy and distribution showed analogous crystalline efficiency from bulk synthetic approaches [45].…”

“…The formation of BaZrS 3 powders was provided by a flow of H 2 S on the mixture of BaCO 3 and ZrO 2 , while alternatively, it is formed through BaZrO 3 and CS 2 sulfurization. However, by presenting BaCl 2 and excess sulfur to BaS and ZrS 2, Wang et al achieved BaZrS 3 synthesis at temperatures as small as 450 • C, even though the maximum yield was attained at 600 • C [45].…”

State-of-the-art surface oxide semiconductors of liquid metals: an emerging platform for development of multifunctional two-dimensional materials

“…On the contrary, the regular chalcogenisation process requires a high processing temperature (900 C). [120][121][122] The low temperature fabrication techniques are therefore highly desired for semiconductor processing instruments, especially low temperature processing, as the basic technical requirement for fabrication of transparent and exible electronic devices.…”