Ivan Caño, member of the SENSATE Team, took part in the PVSEC 31st edition – Online Event

From 13 to 15 December 2021, Ivan Caño took part in the 31st International PV Science and Engineering Conference.

PVSEC-31 will provide an excellent platform for SENSATE and the world’s photovoltaic scientists and engineers to showcase their best and most innovative development in solar photovoltaic technologies. The conference will cover a wide range of topics ranging from fundamentals, new and emerging photovoltaic concepts, industrial solar cells, to the challenges involving integrating an increasing share of photovoltaic electricity in the energy mix.

You can visit the PVSEC 31st edition web page here.

Ivan will present some results from the SENSATE’s research: quasi-1D (Sb,Bi)2Se3 thin films for band-gap tuning in photovoltaic Applications.

Quasi-1D chalcogenides have an enormous potential in the development of photovoltaic technologies, owing to their unique capacity to exhibit enhanced anisotropic electrical properties when they are correctly oriented. Furthermore, Bi incorporation into Sb2Se3 quasi-1D structure allows to modulate the band-gap, opening the door for developing chalcogenide-based devices with optically tuneable properties.

The SENSATE team focused on advanced materials for energy, SLG/Mo/(Sb1-xBix)2Se3 thin films have been prepared, showing that the band-gap can be effectively tuned between 0.9 and 1.4 eV. However, there is a noticeable deterioration in optoelectronic parameters for Bi amounts larger than x=0.1. In order to better understand the underlying mechanisms that lead to the formation of (Sb1-xBix)2Se3, and thus design specific strategies to enhance its properties, thin films with different annealing time and temperature have been synthesized and characterized by XRD and Raman. Interestingly, it has been observed that the binary compounds are formed in the first place, and that as dwell time increases, (Sb1-xBix)2Se3 decomposes into Bi2Se3 and Sb.

To sum up, at the present point of SENSATES’s research we present clear evidence on how the (Sb1-xBix)2Se3 is forming, and how it decomposes over time. Additionally, a preliminary simulations-based study on the limitations and potential of the material will be presented.