Synthesis, Characterization, and Electronic Structure of Single-Crystal SnS, Sn2S3, and SnS2

By L. Burton, Diego Colombara, R. Abellon, F. Grozema, L. Peter, T. Savenije, Gilles Dennler, Aron Walsh. 2013

437 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Tin sulfide is being widely investigated as an earth-abundant light harvesting material, but recorded efficiencies for SnS fall far below theoretical limits. We describe the synthesis and characterization of the single-crystal tin sulfides (SnS, SnS2, and Sn2S3) through chemical vapor transport, and combine electronic structure calculations with time-resolved microwave conductivity measurements to shed light on the underlying electrical properties of each material. We show that the coexistence of the Sn(II) and Sn(IV) oxidation states would limit the performance of SnS in photovoltaic devices due to the valence band alignment of the respective phases and the “asymmetry” in the underlying point defect behavior. Furthermore, our results suggest that Sn2S3, in addition to SnS, is a candidate material for low-cost thin-film solar cells.

Subfields: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Materials Chemistry

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ad60cda02479f4535e90fdcff78f2052e58d8ad1