2014 Volume 83 Issue 12 Pages 1007-1011
Highly mismatched alloys (HMAs) are a class of materials whose fundamental properties are dramatically modified through the substitution of host atoms with an element of a very different electronegativity and/or atomic radii. In ZnTe, the incorporation of a small amount of isoelectronic oxygen leads to the formation of a narrow, oxygen-derived band located in the band gap of ZnTe. The three absorption edges of ZnTeO cover the entire solar spectrum providing a material envisioned for multi-band, single junction, high efficiency photovoltaic devices. This report introduces recent research results on the epitaxial growth and characterization of ZnTeO HMA and its application to intermediate band solar cells.
