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arXiv · 1301.1314

Oxide Heterostructures for Efficient Solar Cells

Elias Assmann·Peter Blaha·Robert Laskowski·Karsten Held·Satoshi Okamoto·Giorgio Sangiovanni
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Abstract

We propose an unexplored class of absorbing materials for high-efficiency solar cells: heterostructures of transition-metal oxides. In particular, LaVO_3 grown on SrTiO_3 has a direct band gap ~1.1 eV in the optimal range as well as an internal potential gradient, which can greatly help to separate the photo-generated electron-hole pairs. Furthermore, oxide heterostructures afford the flexibility to combine LaVO_3 with other materials such as LaFeO_3 in order to achieve even higher efficiencies with band-gap graded solar cells. We use density-functional theory to demonstrate these features.

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Elias Assmann, Peter Blaha, Robert Laskowski, Karsten Held, Satoshi Okamoto, Giorgio Sangiovanni. 2013-01-03. Oxide Heterostructures for Efficient Solar Cells. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.110.078701

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