Effect of crystal growth conditions on carrier lifetime and lattice defects in the solar absorber material ZnSnP2

We investigated the minority carrier lifetime and behavior of lattice defects in ZnSnP2 bulk crystals through experiments on carrier recombination and defect properties. Advanced deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) revealed that an electron trap with a short time constant at 0.2 eV below the conduction band minimum edge may contribute to the short minority carrier lifetime evaluated by time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL). The temperature dependence of steady-state photoluminescence suggested that the carrier recombination through the electron trap was nonradiative around room temperature, which supports the fact of the short carrier lifetime and lower current density in ZnSnP2 solar cells. Previously reported theoretical calculation suggests that such a trap comes from the antisite defect of Sn from the viewpoint of the thermodynamic transition level. We, thus, prepared ZnSnP2 crystals by the solution growth method under conditions with a higher chemical potential of Zn, and we achieved the enhancement of the carrier lifetime compared to that under other growth conditions. In this case, the evaluation of the liquidus temperature and chemical potentials by a thermodynamic model indicated that the formation of Sn antisite was effectively suppressed by a lower precipitation temperature in addition to the effect of chemical potentials. Finally, we demonstrated the improvement of current density in ZnSnP2 solar cells using crystals with a longer lifetime, especially in the longer wavelength range.

Automated summary

We investigated the minority carrier lifetime and behavior of lattice defects in ZnSnP2 bulk crystals and found that an electron trap with a short time constant contributes to the short carrier lifetime. The recombination through this trap is nonradiative, resulting in lower current density in ZnSnP2 solar cells. By preparing crystals under conditions with higher chemical potential of Zn, we achieved an enhancement of carrier lifetime and demonstrated an improvement in current density in ZnSnP2 solar cells.