A Versatile Thin-Film Deposition Method for Multidimensional Semiconducting Bismuth Halides

Despite the significant progress in fabricating hybrid organic–inorganic lead halide perovskite solar cells, their toxicity and low stability remain as major drawbacks, thereby hindering large-scale commercialization. Given the isoelectronic nature of lead­(II) and bismuth­(III) ions, potentially st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChemistry of materials Vol. 30; no. 10; pp. 3538 - 3544
Main Authors Khazaee, Maryam, Sardashti, Kasra, Sun, Jon-Paul, Zhou, Hanhan, Clegg, Charlotte, Hill, Ian G, Jones, Jacob L, Lupascu, Doru C, Mitzi, David B
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Chemical Society 22.05.2018
American Chemical Society (ACS)
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Summary:Despite the significant progress in fabricating hybrid organic–inorganic lead halide perovskite solar cells, their toxicity and low stability remain as major drawbacks, thereby hindering large-scale commercialization. Given the isoelectronic nature of lead­(II) and bismuth­(III) ions, potentially stable and nontoxic alternatives for efficient light absorption in thin-film photovoltaic (PV) devices may be found among bismuth-based halide semiconductors. However, high-quality polycrystalline films of many of these systems have not been demonstrated. Here we present a versatile and facile two-step coevaporation approach to fabricate A3Bi2I9 (A = Cs, Rb) and AgBi2I7 polycrystalline films with smooth, pinhole-free morphology and average grain size of >200 nm. The process involves an initial two-source evaporation step (involving CsI, RbI or AgI, and BiI3 sources), followed by an annealing step under BiI3 vapor. The structural, optical, and electrical characteristics of the resulting thin films are studied by X-ray diffraction, optical spectroscopy, X-ray/UV photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy.
Bibliography:USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
EE0006712
ISSN:0897-4756
1520-5002
DOI:10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b01341