TY - JOUR
T1 - Single-Crystal Growth and Characterization of the Chalcopyrite Semiconductor CuInTe 2 for Photoelectrochemical Solar Fuel Production
AU - Frick, Jessica J.
AU - Topp, Andreas
AU - Klemenz, Sebastian
AU - Krivenkov, Maxim
AU - Varykhalov, Andrei
AU - Ast, Christian R.
AU - Bocarsly, Andrew Bruce
AU - Schoop, Leslie Mareike
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2018/12/6
Y1 - 2018/12/6
N2 - Transition-metal chalcogenides are a promising family of materials for applications as photocathodes in photoelectrochemical (PEC) H 2 generation. A long-standing challenge for chalcopyrite semiconductors is characterizing their electronic structure, both experimentally and theoretically, because of their relatively high-energy band gaps and spin-orbit coupling (SOC), respectively. In this work, we present single crystals of CuInTe 2 , whose relatively small optically measured band gap of 0.9 ± 0.03 eV enables electronic structure characterization by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) in conjunction with first-principles calculations incorporating SOC. ARPES measurements reveal bands that are steeply dispersed in energy with a band velocity of 2.5-5.4 × 10 5 m/s, almost 50% of the extremely conductive material graphene. Additionally, CuInTe 2 single crystals are fabricated into electrodes to experimentally determine the valence band edge energy and confirm the thermodynamic suitability of CuInTe 2 for water redox chemistry. The electronic structure characterization and band edge position presented in this work provide kinetic and thermodynamic factors that support CuInTe 2 as a strong candidate for water reduction.
AB - Transition-metal chalcogenides are a promising family of materials for applications as photocathodes in photoelectrochemical (PEC) H 2 generation. A long-standing challenge for chalcopyrite semiconductors is characterizing their electronic structure, both experimentally and theoretically, because of their relatively high-energy band gaps and spin-orbit coupling (SOC), respectively. In this work, we present single crystals of CuInTe 2 , whose relatively small optically measured band gap of 0.9 ± 0.03 eV enables electronic structure characterization by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) in conjunction with first-principles calculations incorporating SOC. ARPES measurements reveal bands that are steeply dispersed in energy with a band velocity of 2.5-5.4 × 10 5 m/s, almost 50% of the extremely conductive material graphene. Additionally, CuInTe 2 single crystals are fabricated into electrodes to experimentally determine the valence band edge energy and confirm the thermodynamic suitability of CuInTe 2 for water redox chemistry. The electronic structure characterization and band edge position presented in this work provide kinetic and thermodynamic factors that support CuInTe 2 as a strong candidate for water reduction.
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U2 - 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b03100
DO - 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b03100
M3 - Article
C2 - 30433790
AN - SCOPUS:85058136786
SN - 1948-7185
VL - 9
SP - 6833
EP - 6840
JO - Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
JF - Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
IS - 23
ER -