Enhancement of optoelectronic properties via substitutional doping of Cu, in and Ag in SnS nanorods for thin film photovoltaics

• Published in: Solar energy 2020-07, Vol.205, p.446-455
• Main Authors: Baby, Benjamin Hudson, Thomas, Alphi Maria, Amrutha, E.G., Bharathi Mohan, D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Band gap; Carrier density; Cations; Copper; Crystal structure; CTAB; Dopants; Doping; Electrical resistivity; Energy gap; Lattice sites; Nanorods; Optical properties; Optoelectronics; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaics; Properties (attributes); Reaction time; Silver; SnS nanorods; Solar cells; Solar energy; Solvothermal method; Substitutional doping; Thin films; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• ISSN: 0038-092X; 1471-1257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2020.05.076

[Display omitted] •First report on the preparation of Cu, In & Ag doped SnS nanorods through CTAB–assisted solvothermal method.•Optical and electrical properties of SnS nanorods are tuned through the substitutional doping of Cu2+, In3+ and Ag2+.•Ionic radii difference between the dopant and host cations cause the modified structural and morphological properties of SnS.•Among Cu, In & Ag, higher doping of In (>4%) resulted in the formation of Sn2S3 secondary phase.•Cu 4% doped SnS nanorods showed resistivity 3 × 104 Ω cm and carrier concentration 1.46 × 1014 cm−3. In order to overcome the efficiency limitation factors of SnS based thin film solar cells, this manuscript is aimed to improve the optoelectronic properties of SnS through the substitutional doping of Cu, In and Ag into SnS lattice sites. Cu, In and Ag doped SnS nanorods are prepared through CTAB–assisted solvothermal method with a reaction temperature of 150 °C and reaction time of 90 min. XPS analysis reveals the presence of Cu2+, In3+ and Ag2+ as the dopant cation in the prepared Cu, In and Ag doped SnS samples respectively. The variations in the crystal structural and morphological properties with respect to doping can be very well correlated with the low ionic radii of dopant cation as compared to the host cation (Sn2+). The structural and optoelectronic studies demonstrate the successful doping in SnS which is optimized as Cu 4%, In 4% and Ag 6%. Among all dopants, the band gap energy, carrier concentration and electrical resistivity are optimized as 1.34 eV, 1014 cm−3 and 0.3 × 105 Ωcm respectively for Cu 4% doped SnS.