Predicting a Quaternary Tungsten Oxide for Sustainable Photovoltaic Application by Density Functional Theory

Mowafak Al-Jassim, Pranab Sarker, Muhammad Huda

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus Citations

Abstract

A quaternary oxide, CuSnW2O8 (CTTO), has been predicted by density functional theory (DFT) to be a suitable material for sustainable photovoltaic applications. CTTO possesses band gaps of 1.25 eV (indirect) and 1.37 eV (direct), which were evaluated using the hybrid functional (HSE06) as a post-DFT method. The hole mobility of CTTO was higher than that of silicon. Further, optical absorption calculations demonstrate that CTTO is a better absorber of sunlight than Cu2ZnSnS4 and CuInxGa1-xSe2 (x = 0.5). In addition, CTTO exhibits rigorous thermodynamic stability comparable to WO3, as investigated by different thermodynamic approaches such as bonding cohesion, fragmentation tendency, and chemical potential analysis. Chemical potential analysis further revealed that CTTO can be synthesized at flexible experimental growth conditions, although the co-existence of at least one secondary phase is likely. Finally, like other Cu-based compounds, the formation of Cu vacancies is highly probable, even at Cu-rich growth condition, which could introduce p-type activity in CTTO.

Original languageAmerican English
Article numberArticle No. 233902
Number of pages5
JournalApplied Physics Letters
Volume107
Issue number23
DOIs
StatePublished - 7 Dec 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-5K00-64682

Keywords

  • crystal structure
  • density functional theory (df)
  • photonic bandgap materials
  • semiconductor growth
  • solar energy

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