ZnSnN2: A new earth-abundant element semiconductor for solar cells

Abstract

The Zn-IV-N <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> semiconductor family represents a potential earth abundant element alternative for PV and lighting applications, with a predicted band gap range of ~0.6 to ~5 eV. While the Ge and Si containing members of the family have been successfully synthesized, little is known about the lower band gap energy members, in particular ZnSnN <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> . Here, we report the growth of this compound using a plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy technique, and compare experimental optical and structural properties to density functional theory predictions.