Issue 17, 2019

Two-dimensional Blue-AsP monolayers with tunable direct band gap and ultrahigh carrier mobility show promising high-performance photovoltaic properties

Abstract

The successful fabrication of black phosphorene (Black-P) in 2014 and subsequent synthesis of layered black As1−xPx alloys have inspired research into two-dimensional (2D) binary As–P compounds. The very recent success in growing blue phosphorene (Blue-P) further motivated exploration of 2D Blue-AsP materials. Here, using ab initio swarm-intelligence global minimum structure-searching methods, we have obtained a series of novel and energetically favored 2D Blue-AsP (denoted x-AsP, x = I, II, III, IV, V) compounds with As : P = 1 : 1 stoichiometry. They display similar honeycomb structures to Blue-P. Remarkably, the lowest-energy AsP monolayer, namely I-AsP, not only possesses a quasi-direct band gap (2.41 eV), which can be tuned to a direct and optimal gap for photovoltaic applications by in-plane strain, but also has an ultrahigh electronic mobility up to ∼7.4 × 104 cm2 V−1 s−1, far surpassing that of Blue-P, and also exhibits high absorption coefficients (×105 cm−1). Our simulations also show that 30 nm-thick I-AsP sheet-based cells have photovoltaic efficiency as high as ∼12%, and the I-AsP/CdSe heterostructure solar cells possess a power conversion efficiency as high as ∼13%. All these outstanding characteristics suggest the I-AsP sheet as a promising material for high-efficiency solar cells.

Graphical abstract: Two-dimensional Blue-AsP monolayers with tunable direct band gap and ultrahigh carrier mobility show promising high-performance photovoltaic properties

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 Feb 2019
Accepted
28 Mar 2019
First published
30 Mar 2019

Nanoscale, 2019,11, 8260-8269

Author version available

Two-dimensional Blue-AsP monolayers with tunable direct band gap and ultrahigh carrier mobility show promising high-performance photovoltaic properties

X. Cai, Y. Chen, B. Sun, J. Chen, H. Wang, Y. Ni, L. Tao, H. Wang, S. Zhu, X. Li, Y. Wang, J. Lv, X. Feng, S. A. T. Redfern and Z. Chen, Nanoscale, 2019, 11, 8260 DOI: 10.1039/C9NR01261C

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