<atl>Origin of Hole‐Trapping States in Solution‐Processed Copper(I) Thiocyanate and Defect‐Healing by I sub2/sub Doping</atl>

Filling traps in a 3D semiconductor

31 August 2023

Defects in a promising transparent semiconductor material can be healed with a dab of iodine.

The semiconductor copper (I) thiocyanate can be easily made using low-temperature solution processing. It has been used in a range of experimental devices from solar cells to thin-film transistors.

However, the material is prone to developing defects during its manufacture, which can trap positively charged species known as holes, limiting its performance.

Now, a team led by researchers from Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (VISTEC) in Thailand has used X-ray absorption spectroscopy to show that the hole-trapping defects are due to missing thiocyanate ions in the structure.

The team showed that these defects can be filled by iodine, significantly reducing problematic hole trapping. Computational studies confirmed the iodine-defect-healing mechanism.

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References

1. Advanced Functional Materials 33, 2209504 (2023). doi: 10.1002/adfm.202209504