Abstract
Transition metal sulfide perovskites offer lower band gaps and greater tunability than oxides, along with other desirable properties for applications. Here, we explore dimensional reduction as a tuning strategy using the Ruddlesden–Popper phases in the Ba–Zr–S system as a model. The three-dimensional perovskite BaZrS3 is a direct gap semiconductor, with a band gap of 1.5 eV suitable for solar photovoltaic application. However, the three known members of the Ruddlesden–Popper series, are all indirect gap materials, and additionally have lower fundamental band gaps. This is accompanied in the case of Ba2ZrS4 by a band structure that is more favorable for carrier transport for oriented samples. The layered Ruddlesden–Popper compounds show significantly anisotropic optical properties, as may be expected. The optical spectra show tails at low energy, which may complicate experimental characterization of these materials.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
S. Perera, H. Hui, C. Zhao, H. Xue, F. Sun, C. Deng, N. Gross, C. Milleville, X. Xu, D.F. Watson, B. Weinstein, Y.Y. Sun, S. Zhang, H. Zeng, Nano Energy 22, 129 (2016)
S. Niu, H. Huyan, Y. Liu, M. Yeung, K. Ye, L. Blankemeier, T. Orvis, D. Sarkar, D.J. Singh, R. Kapadia, J. Ravichandran, Adv. Mater. 29, 1604733 (2017)
Y.Y. Sun, M.L. Agiorgousis, P. Zhang, S. Zhang, Nano Lett. 15, 581 (2015)
W. Meng, B. Saparov, F. Hong, J. Wang, D. Mitzi, Y. Yan, Chem. Mater. 28, 821 (2016)
J. Robertson, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 18, 1785 (2000)
S. Niu, G. Joe, H. Zhao, Y. Zhou, T. Orvis, H. Huyan, J. Salman, K. Mahalingam, B. Urwin, J. Wu, Y. Liu, T.E. Tiwald, S.B. Cronin, B.M. Howe, M. Mecklenburg, R. Haiges, D.J. Singh, H. Wang, M.A. Kats, J. Ravichandran, Nat. Photonics 12, 392 (2018)
H. Kroemer, Proc. IEEE 51, 1782 (1963)
L. D. Hicks, M. S. Dresselhaus, Phys. Rev. B 47, 12727 (1993)
J. Zhang, L. Song, G.K.H. Madsen, K.F.F. Fischer, W. Zhang, X. Shi, B.B. Iversen, Nat. Commun. 7, 10892 (2016)
G. Xing, J. Sun, Y. Li, X. Fan, W. Zheng, D.J. Singh, Phys. Rev. Mater. 1, 065405 (2017)
I. Terasaki, Y. Sasago, K. Uchinokura, Phys. Rev. B 56, 12685 (1997)
Y. Li, L. Zhang, Y. Ma, D.J. Singh, APL Mater. 3, 011102 (2015)
Q.H. Wang, K. Kalantar-Zadeh, A. Kis, J.N. Coleman, M.S. Strano, Nat. Nanotechnol. 7, 699 (2012)
S.Z. Butler, S.M. Hollen, L. Cao, Y. Cui, J.A. Gupta, H.R. Gutierrez, T.F. Heinz, S.S. Hong, J. Huang, A.F. Ismach, E. Johnson-Halperin, M. Kuno, V.V. Plashnitsa, R.D. Robinson, R.S. Ruoff, S. Salahuddin, J. Shan, L. Shi, M.G. Spencer, M. Terrones, W. Windl, J.E. Goldberger, ACS Nano 7, 2898 (2013)
A. Ohtomo, H. Y. Hwang, Nature 427, 423 (2004)
D. Parker, X. Chen, D.J. Singh, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 146601 (2013)
S.N. Ruddlesden, P. Popper, Acta Cryst. 10, 538 (1957)
R. Lelieveld, D.J.M. Ijdo, Acta Crysallogr. B 36, 2223 (1980)
M. Saeki, Y. Yajima, M. Onoda, J. Solid State Chem. 92, 286 (1991)
B.H. Chen, B.W. Eichhorn, N.W. Wong, Acta Crysallogr. C 50, 161 (1994)
B.H. Chen, N.W. Wong, B.W. Eichhorn, J. Solid State Chem. 103, 75 (1993)
R.D. Shannon, Acta Cryst. A32, 751 (1976)
D.J. Singh, L. Nordstrom, Planewaves Pseudopotentials and the LAPW Method, 2nd edn. (Springer, Berlin, 2006)
P. Blaha, K. Schwarz, G. Madsen, D. Kvasnicka, J. Luitz, WIEN2k, An Augmented Plane Wave + Local Orbitals Program for Calculating Crystal Properties (K. Schwarz, Tech. Univ. Wien, Austria, 2001)
J.P. Perdew, K. Burke, M. Ernzerhof, Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3865 (1996)
F. Tran, P. Blaha, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 226401 (2009)
D. Koller, F. Tran, P. Blaha, Phys. Rev. B 83, 195134 (2011)
D.J. Singh, Phys. Rev. B 82, 205102 (2010)
G.K.H. Madsen, D.J. Singh, Comput. Phys. Commun. 175, 67 (2006)
D. Zagorac, K. Doll, J. Zagorac, D. Jordanov, B. Matovic, Inorg. Chem. 56, 10644 (2017)
J.M. Polfus, T. Norby, R. Bredesen, J. Phys. Chem. C 119, 23875 (2015)
J. Sun, D.J. Singh, APL Mater. 4, 104803 (2016)
M. Lax, Symmetry Principles in Solid State and Molecular Physics (Wiley, New York, 1974)
W. Shockley, H.J. Queisser, J. Appl. Phys. 32, 510 (1961)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Contribution to the Topical Issue “Special issue in honor of Hardy Gross”, edited by C.A. Ullrich, F.M.S. Nogueira, A. Rubio, and M.A.L. Marques.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, Y., Singh, D.J. Tunability of electronic and optical properties of the Ba–Zr–S system via dimensional reduction. Eur. Phys. J. B 91, 188 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2018-90125-6
Received:
Revised:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2018-90125-6