Thin Film Solar Cells Using Earth-Abundant Materials

Unravelling the early oxidation mechanism of zinc phosphide (Zn3P2) surfaces by adsorbed oxygen and water: a first-principles DFT-D3 investigation

“…The development of sustainable and inexpensive photovoltaics (PV) on the terawatt scale requires low-cost and earth abundant solar absorber materials with excellent optoelectronic properties. [1][2][3] From a recent cost-benefit analysis performed on earth-abundant semiconducting materials with electronic structures suitable for photovoltaic applications to determine possible alternatives to crystalline silicon, zinc phosphide (Zn 3 P 2 ) was identified among the most promising materials to have the capacity to meet or exceed annual worldwide electricity consumption with a significant cost-reduction over crystalline silicon. 1 Zinc phosphide is an attractive potential candidate for scalable thin-film photovoltaic applications owing to its direct band gap of 1.5 eV, 4 high visible-light absorption coefficient (410 4 cm À1 ), 5,6 long minoritycarrier diffusion length (B10 mm), 7 high extinction coefficient, 8 passive grain boundaries, 9 and large range of potential doping concentrations (10 13 -10 18 cm À3 ), 10 as well as due to both of its constituent elements that are relatively inexpensive and abundantly available in the earth's crust.…”