Distinct enhancement of sub-bandgap photoresponse through intermediate band in high dose implanted ZnTe:O alloys.

Sci Rep

Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Photonic and Electronic Materials, and School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China.

Published: March 2017

The demand for high efficiency intermediate band (IB) solar cells is driving efforts in producing high quality IB photovoltaic materials. Here, we demonstrate ZnTe:O highly mismatched alloys synthesized by high dose ion implantation and pulsed laser melting exhibiting optically active IB states and efficient sub-gap photoresponse, as well as investigate the effect of pulsed laser melting on the structural and optical recovery in detail. The structural evolution and vibrational dynamics indicates a significant structural recovery of ZnTe:O alloys by liquid phase epitaxy during pulsed laser melting process, but laser irradiation also aggravates the segregation of Te in ZnTe:O alloys. A distinct intermediate band located at 1.8 eV above valence band is optically activated as evidenced by photoluminescence, absorption and photoresponse characteristics. The carrier dynamics indicates that carriers in the IB electronic states have a relatively long lifetime, which is beneficial for the fast separation of carriers excited by photons with sub-gap energy and thus the improved overall conversion efficiency. The reproducible capability of implantation and laser annealing at selective area enable the realization of high efficient lateral junction solar cells, which can ensure extreme light trapping and efficient charge separation.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5345085PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep44399DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

intermediate band
12
znteo alloys
12
pulsed laser
12
laser melting
12
high dose
8
solar cells
8
dynamics indicates
8
high
5
laser
5
distinct enhancement
4

Similar Publications

Innovating nanocatalysts with both high intrinsic catalytic activity and high selectivity is crucial for multi-electron reactions, however, their low mass/electron transport at industrial-level currents is often overlooked, which usually leads to low comprehensive performance at the device level. Herein, a Cl/O etching-assisted self-assembly strategy is reported for synthesizing a self-assembled gap-rich PdMn nanofibers with high mass/electron transport highway for greatly enhancing the electrocatalytic reforming of waste plastics at industrial-level currents. The self-assembled PdMn nanofiber shows excellent catalytic activity in upcycling waste plastics into glycolic acid, with a high current density of 223 mA cm@0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Insight into enhanced tetracycline photodegradation by hematite/biochar composites: Roles of charge transfer, biochar-derived dissolved organic matter and persistent free radicals.

Bioresour Technol

January 2025

National&Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Metrology Instrument and System, College of Quality and Technical Supervision, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China. Electronic address:

The combination of hematite and biochar significantly accelerated tetracycline (TC) removal under visible light irradiation. The k of TC removal with Hem/BC-5 reached 0.103 min, 3.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are often employed in oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) for hydrogen peroxide production due to their tunable structures and compositions. However, COF electrocatalysts require precise structural engineering, such as heteroatoms or metal site doping, to modulate the reaction pathway during the ORR process. In this work, we designed a tetraphenyl-p-phenylenediamine based COF electrocatalyst, namely TPDA-BDA, which exhibited excellent two-electron (2e) ORR performance with high H2O2 selectivity of 89.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Seeding Janus Zn-Fe Diatomic Pairs on a Hollow Nanobox for Potent Catalytic Therapy.

Nano Lett

January 2025

Key Laboratory of Superlight Materials and Surface Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Material Sciences and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, P. R. China.

Dual atomic nanozymes (DAzymes) are promising for applications in the field of tumor catalytic therapy. Here, integrating with ultrasmall FeC nanoclusters, asymmetric coordination featuring Janus Zn-Fe dual-atom sites with an ON-Fe-Zn-N moiety embedded in a carbon vacancy-engineered hollow nanobox (Janus ZnFe DAs-FeC) was elaborately developed. Theoretical calculation revealed that the synergistic effects of Zn centers acting as both adsorption and active sites, oxygen-heteroatom doping, carbon vacancy, and FeC nanoclusters jointly downshifted the d-band center of Fe 3d orbitals, optimizing the desorption behaviors of intermediates *OH, thereby significantly promoting catalytic activity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Achieving Near Infrared Photodegradation by the Synergistic Effect of Z-Scheme Heterojunction and Antenna of Rare Earth Single Atoms.

Small

January 2025

Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry Ministry of Education School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Heilongjiang University, Harbin, 150080, P. R. China.

Near-infrared light response catalysts have received great attention in renewable solar energy conversion, energy production, and environmental purification. Here, near-infrared photodegradation is successfully achieved in rare earth single atom anchored NaYF@g-CN heterojunctions by the synergistic effect of Z-scheme heterojunction and antenna of rare earth single atoms. The UV-vis light emitted by Tm can not only be directly absorbed by g-CN to generate electron-hole pairs, realizing efficient energy transfer, but also be absorbed by NaYF substrate, and generating photo-generated electrons at its impurity level, transferring the active charge to the valence band of g-CN, forming a Z-scheme heterojunction and further improving the photocatalytic efficiency.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!