Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Singh, Nikhil, Ubaid, Mohammad, Nayak, Pabitra Kumar, He, Jiangang, Ghosh, Dibyajyoti, Wolverton, Chris, Pal, Koushik
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.15430
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866908458735894528
author Singh, Nikhil
Ubaid, Mohammad
Nayak, Pabitra Kumar
He, Jiangang
Ghosh, Dibyajyoti
Wolverton, Chris
Pal, Koushik
author_facet Singh, Nikhil
Ubaid, Mohammad
Nayak, Pabitra Kumar
He, Jiangang
Ghosh, Dibyajyoti
Wolverton, Chris
Pal, Koushik
contents Photovoltaic materials facilitate the conversion of sunlight into electricity by harnessing the interaction between light and matter, offering an eco-friendly and cost-efficient energy solution. Combining data-driven approaches with static and time-dependent density functional theories and nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations, we predict 14 high-performance photoabsorber materials from a family of known quaternary semiconductors. Among these, we investigate four compounds - SrCuGdSe3, SrCuDyTe3, BaCuLaSe3, and BaCuLaTe3 in greater detail. Hybrid density functional theory calculations including spin-orbit coupling reveal that SrCuGdSe3, SrCuDyTe3, BaCuLaSe3 and BaCuLaTe3 possess direct band gaps of 1.65, 1.79, 1.05, and 1.01 eV, respectively. These band gap values lie close to an optimal range ideal for visible-light absorption. Consequently, the calculated optical absorption coefficient and spectroscopic limited maximum efficiency for these compounds become comparable or larger than crystalline silicon, GaAs, and methylammonium lead iodide. Calculated exciton binding energies for these compounds are relatively small (30-32 meV), signifying easy separation of the electron-hole pairs, and hence enhanced power conversion efficiencies. Investigations of photoexcited carrier dynamics reveal a relatively long carrier lifetime (~ 30-40 ns), suggesting suppressed nonradiative recombination and enhanced photo-conversion efficiencies. We further determined the defect formation energies in these compounds, which showed that despite the likely formation of cation vacancies and interstitial defects, midgap states remain absent making these defects non-detrimental to carrier recombination. Our theoretical predictions invite experimental verification and encourage further investigations of these and similar compounds in this quaternary semiconductor family.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_15430
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Data-driven Discovery of Novel High-performance Quaternary Chalcogenide Photovoltaics
Singh, Nikhil
Ubaid, Mohammad
Nayak, Pabitra Kumar
He, Jiangang
Ghosh, Dibyajyoti
Wolverton, Chris
Pal, Koushik
Materials Science
Photovoltaic materials facilitate the conversion of sunlight into electricity by harnessing the interaction between light and matter, offering an eco-friendly and cost-efficient energy solution. Combining data-driven approaches with static and time-dependent density functional theories and nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations, we predict 14 high-performance photoabsorber materials from a family of known quaternary semiconductors. Among these, we investigate four compounds - SrCuGdSe3, SrCuDyTe3, BaCuLaSe3, and BaCuLaTe3 in greater detail. Hybrid density functional theory calculations including spin-orbit coupling reveal that SrCuGdSe3, SrCuDyTe3, BaCuLaSe3 and BaCuLaTe3 possess direct band gaps of 1.65, 1.79, 1.05, and 1.01 eV, respectively. These band gap values lie close to an optimal range ideal for visible-light absorption. Consequently, the calculated optical absorption coefficient and spectroscopic limited maximum efficiency for these compounds become comparable or larger than crystalline silicon, GaAs, and methylammonium lead iodide. Calculated exciton binding energies for these compounds are relatively small (30-32 meV), signifying easy separation of the electron-hole pairs, and hence enhanced power conversion efficiencies. Investigations of photoexcited carrier dynamics reveal a relatively long carrier lifetime (~ 30-40 ns), suggesting suppressed nonradiative recombination and enhanced photo-conversion efficiencies. We further determined the defect formation energies in these compounds, which showed that despite the likely formation of cation vacancies and interstitial defects, midgap states remain absent making these defects non-detrimental to carrier recombination. Our theoretical predictions invite experimental verification and encourage further investigations of these and similar compounds in this quaternary semiconductor family.
title Data-driven Discovery of Novel High-performance Quaternary Chalcogenide Photovoltaics
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.15430