Band gap and work function tailoring of SnO2 for improved transparent conducting ability in photovoltaics

摘要: Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) are an essential component in modern optoelectronic devices, such as solar panels and touch screens. Their ability to combine transparency conductivity, two properties that normally mutually exclusive, have made them the subject of intense research over last 50 years. SnO2, doped with F or Sb, is a widely used relatively inexpensive transparent material, however, its electronic structure leaves scope for improving use many TCO applications, especially cell devices. Here we show using density functional theory incorporation Pb into SnO2 reduces band gap through lowering conduction minimum, thereby increasing electron affinity. The effective mass at minimum decreases alongside gap, indicating improved charge carrier mobilities. Furthermore, calculated optical absorption alloys retain their visible spectrum. Our results suggest alloying PbO2 will enable properties, including highly tuneable workfunction, which open up material other hole injection layers organic photovoltaics.