Electronic and lattice dynamical properties of II‐IV‐N<sub>2</sub> semiconductors

Punya, Atchara; Paudel, Tula R.; Lambrecht, Walter R. L.

doi:10.1002/pssc.201001147

Cited by 60 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Kikuchi patterns for this region were indexed using a hexagonal lattice and routinely yielded coincidence indices of greater than 0.4, meaning very good agreement with hexagonal crystal structure. It is important to understand that the orthorhombic structures predicted 2,5,6,15 for ZnSnN 2 in literature are examples of higher-level symmetry superimposed on a fundamentally hexagonal lattice. When the cation sub-lattice in ZnSnN 2 attains a high degree of ordering a larger, orthorhombic unit cell must be drawn to fully capture the translational symmetry of the more ordered crystal structure.…”

Section: Crystal Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A detailed depiction of how the orthorhombic unit cell relates to the underlying hexagonal lattice in ZnSnN 2 is given Ref. [2].…”

Section: Crystal Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…9 In addition to these compelling characteristics, ZnSnN 2 is also part of a trio of materials (Zn-IV-N 2 ; IV = Si, Ge, Sn) that possess bandgaps spanning the visible spectrum (from 1.0-5.0 eV). [2][3][4] Alloys of this system are considered to be Earth-abundant alternatives to the InGaN system, due to their lower formation enthalpy (thus potentially avoiding phase segregation) and their solar-relevant bandgap range. 10,11 It is this suite of properties that has piqued recent interest in ZnSnN 2 and the related Zn-IV-N 2 family for photovoltaics (PV).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Combinatorial insights into doping control and transport properties of zinc tin nitride

et al. 2015

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. Broader ContextThin film photovoltaics (PV), based on materials that absorb light 10-100 times more efficiently than crystalline silicon, has the potential to drive down PV module cost by increasing efficiency and requiring less raw material. Currently, the market for thin film PV is dominated by CdTe and CuIn x Ga 1-x Se 2 technologies, which suffer from concerns of toxicity (Cd) or rarity (Te, In) when considering terawatt-scale deployment. As an alternative to these technologies, researchers have turned to studying new absorber materials that exhibit equivalent light absorbing properties but are comprised of Earth-abundant elements. In this work, we explore the properties of a thin film III-N analog, ZnSnN 2 , that until recently has received little attention in the literature. Classification as a III-N analog is advantageous for PV applications, considering that III-N materials are well-known for their stability. ZnSnN 2 possesses a direct bandgap and large absorption coefficient in a PV-relevant energy range, in addition to being composed of abundant and non-toxic elements. However, a few key optoelectronic properties (e.g. doping control and exact bandgap) of this material are not well understood. If this challenge is addressed, ZnSnN 2 has excellent potential as an absorber material for Earth-abundant thin film PV. AbstractZnSnN 2 is an Earth-abundant semiconductor analogous to the III-Nitrides with potential as a solar absorber due to its direct bandgap, steep absorption onset, and disorder-driven bandgap tunability. Despite these desirable properties, discrepancies in the fundamental bandgap and degenerate n-type carrier density have been prevalent issues in the limited amount of literature available on this material. Using a combinatorial RF co-sputtering approach, we have been able to explore a growth-temperature-composition space for Zn 1+x Sn 1-x N 2 over the ranges 35-340• C and 0.30-0.75 Zn/(Zn+Sn). In this way, we were able to identify an optimal set of deposition parameters for obtaining as-deposited films with wurtzite crystal structure and carrier density as low as 1.8 x 10 18 cm -3 . Films grown at 230• C with Zn/(Zn+Sn) = 0.60 were found to have the largest grain size overall (70 nm diameter on average) while also exhibiting low carrier density (3 x 10 18 cm -3 ) and high mobility (8.3 cm 2

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Section: Crystal Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A detailed depiction of how the orthorhombic unit cell relates to the underlying hexagonal lattice in ZnSnN 2 is given Ref. [2].…”

Section: Crystal Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Combinatorial insights into doping control and transport properties of zinc tin nitride

et al. 2015

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“…An important question for new materials, is their thermodynamic stability. In our previous work we have already determined the energies of formation to be negative. Nonetheless, the results on the energies of formation seem to differ significantly between our and different calculations in literature .…”

Section: Stability Versus Competing Binariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Band Gaps, Band‐Offsets, Disorder, Stability Region, and Point Defects in II‐IV‐N₂ Semiconductors

Lyu

Skachkov

Kash

et al. 2019

Physica Status Solidi (a)

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Recent work on heterovalent ternary nitrides, II‐IV‐N2, is reviewed. The authors first provide an overview of the relevant literature, then briefly discuss band gaps, band offsets and the effects and nature of disorder. The authors discuss the energies of formation and evaluate the stability or metastability with respect to competing binary compounds. The Cd‐IV‐N2 compounds are found to be only metastable. For ZnGeN2 we present a revised chemical potential stability region and discuss its effects on the point defect energies of formation. The authors briefly discuss the current status of understanding of the point defects and doping in ZnGeN2.

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“…Calculations performed using density functional theory (DFT) for the ZnSn x Ge 1−x N 2 alloys have predicted that the band gaps of the ZnSn x Ge 1−x N 2 alloy series will span the range of 1.4-3.1 eV, which includes the full visible spectrum, and suggest potential utility as photovoltaic absorber materials. 3 The calculated lattice parameters for ZnSnN 2 and ZnGeN 2 have a smaller mismatch (5%) 4 than the lattice parameters for InN and GaN (10%), 5,6 and experimentally, ZnSn x Ge 1−x N 2 alloys have demonstrated stability against phase segregation throughout the alloy series-a potentially significant advantage relative to In x Ga 1−x N alloys.…”

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confidence: 90%

Semiconducting ZnSnxGe1−xN2 alloys prepared by reactive radio-frequency sputtering

et al. 2015

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We report on the fabrication and structural and optoelectronic characterization of II-IV-nitride ZnSnxGe1−xN2 thin-films. Three-target reactive radio-frequency sputtering was used to synthesize non-degenerately doped semiconducting alloys having <10% atomic composition (x = 0.025) of tin. These low-Sn alloys followed the structural and optoelectronic trends of the alloy series. Samples exhibited semiconducting properties, including optical band gaps and increasing in resistivities with temperature. Resistivity vs. temperature measurements indicated that low-Sn alloys were non-degenerately doped, whereas alloys with higher Sn content were degenerately doped. These films show potential for ZnSnxGe1−xN2 as tunable semiconductor absorbers for possible use in photovoltaics, light-emitting diodes, or optical sensors.

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Electronic and lattice dynamical properties of II‐IV‐N₂ semiconductors

Cited by 60 publications

References 47 publications

Combinatorial insights into doping control and transport properties of zinc tin nitride

Combinatorial insights into doping control and transport properties of zinc tin nitride

Band Gaps, Band‐Offsets, Disorder, Stability Region, and Point Defects in II‐IV‐N₂ Semiconductors

Semiconducting ZnSnxGe1−xN2 alloys prepared by reactive radio-frequency sputtering

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Electronic and lattice dynamical properties of II‐IV‐N2 semiconductors

Cited by 60 publications

References 47 publications

Combinatorial insights into doping control and transport properties of zinc tin nitride

Combinatorial insights into doping control and transport properties of zinc tin nitride

Band Gaps, Band‐Offsets, Disorder, Stability Region, and Point Defects in II‐IV‐N2 Semiconductors

Semiconducting ZnSnxGe1−xN2 alloys prepared by reactive radio-frequency sputtering

Contact Info

Product

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Electronic and lattice dynamical properties of II‐IV‐N₂ semiconductors

Band Gaps, Band‐Offsets, Disorder, Stability Region, and Point Defects in II‐IV‐N₂ Semiconductors