Tunable band structure and effective mass of disordered chalcopyrite

Abstract

Although new photovoltaic materials, such as organic perovskites, have attracted much attention recently,\cite{perov1,perov2,perov3} zinc-blende semiconductors still play an important role, owing to their high efficiency and stability in real environments. For example, Cu$_2$ZnSnSe$_4$ \cite{AM2013} (CZTS) and Cu(In,Ga)Se$_2$ \cite{JACS2008} (CIGS), which are both based on chalcopyrite CuGa$X_2$ ($X=$ S, Se), have been considered as potential candidates for photovoltaics. It has been reported recently that the efficiency of CIGS has gone beyond 20\%, which is close to that of polycrystalline s ilicon.\cite{efficiency2014} Furthermore, photovoltaic devices related to CZTS have gained attention because they solely contain abundant and nontoxic materials.\cite{AM2013,CZTS}