Semiconductor ferroelectric compositions and their use in photovoltaic devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9484475-B2
Application number	US-201213649154-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 11, 2012
Priority date	Oct 11, 2011
Publication date	Nov 1, 2016
Grant date	Nov 1, 2016

Abstract

Disclosed herein are ferroelectric perovskites characterized as having a band gap, Egap, of less than 2.5 eV. Also disclosed are compounds comprising a solid solution of KNbO3 and BaNi1/2Nb1/2O3-delta, wherein delta is in the range of from 0 to about 1. The specification also discloses photovoltaic devices comprising one or more solar absorbing layers, wherein at least one of the solar absorbing layers comprises a semiconducting ferroelectric layer. Finally, this patent application provides solar cell, comprising: a heterojunction of n- and p-type semiconductors characterized as comprising an interface layer disposed between the n- and p-type semiconductors, the interface layer comprising a semiconducting ferroelectric absorber layer capable of enhancing light absorption and carrier separation.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A ferroelectric perovskite characterized as having a band gap, E gap , of less than 2.5 eV and comprising a solid solution of KNbO 3 and BaNi 1/2 Nb 1/2 O 3-δ , wherein δ is in the range of from 0 to about 1.

2. The ferroelectric perovskite of claim 1 wherein the band gap is less than about 2.0 eV.

3. The ferroelectric perovskite of claim 1 wherein the band gap is in the range of from about 1.1 eV to about 1.6 eV.

4. The ferroelectric perovskite of claim 1 , wherein the solid solution of KNbO 3 and BaNi 1/2 Nb 1/2 O 3-δ is represented as (1−x)KNbO 3-x BaNi 1/2 Nb 1/2 O 3-δ , wherein x is in the range of from about 0.01 to about 0.99.

5. The ferroelectric perovskite of claim 4 , wherein x is in the range of from about 0.1 to about 0.5.

6. The ferroelectric perovskite of claim 1 , wherein δ is in the range of from about 0.2 to about 0.3.

7. The ferroelectric perovskite of claim 1 , wherein the ferroelectric perovskite is ferroelectric up to at least 100 degrees C.

8. A photovoltaic device comprising the ferroelectric perovskite of claim 1 .

Assignees

• Rappe Andrew M
• Davies Peter K
• Spanier Jonathan E
• Grinberg Ilya
• West Don Vincent
• Univ Pennsylvania
• Univ Drexel

Inventors

• Rappe Andrew M
• Davies Peter K
• Spanier Jonathan E
• Grinberg Ilya
• West Don Vincent

Classifications

• C04B2235/3201

  Alkali metal oxides or oxide-forming salts thereof · CPC title

• C04B2235/768

  Perovskite structure ABO3 · CPC title

• Y02E10/50

  Photovoltaic [PV] energy · CPC title

• C04B35/495

  based on vanadium, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum or tungsten oxides or solid solutions thereof with other oxides, e.g. vanadates, niobates, tantalates, molybdates or tungstates · CPC title

• C01P2006/40

  Electric properties · CPC title