Developing nitride-sulfide perovskite thin film semiconductors for solar energy conversion applications

• Applicant: Dr. Laura Idoya Wagner
• Subject Area: Physical Chemistry of Solids and Surfaces, Material Characterisation ; Experimental Condensed Matter Physics ; Solid State and Surface Chemistry, Material Synthesis
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 567888623

With the rapidly increasing global energy demand and the associated environmental and societal challenges, developing sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels has become a pressing societal priority. Solar cells are central to both ongoing and future strategies for harnessing the sun's energy efficiently and generating electricity without contributing to carbon emissions. Recently, chalcogenide perovskites have entered the spotlight as highly robust, earth-abundant, stable, and non-toxic candidate materials for a range of solar energy conversion applications. In my proposed postdoctoral research, I want to use a world-wide unique, chalcogenide-dedicated materials growth system at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) to rigorously explore sulfide perovskite thin films directly synthesized via reactive co-sputtering of the constituent metals and explore the effects of thus far unreported nitrogen incorporation from the dilute limit of doping all the way to mixed anion compound formation. Anion substitutions with nitrogen are expected to increase the defect tolerance but also alter the fundamental material properties. The aim of the proposed project is to synthesize, thus far, unreported nitride-sulfide perovskite thin films, evaluate the feasibility and impact of nitrogen incorporation, and determine the key semiconducting properties, ranging from low N concentrations, expected to alter mainly the defect and charge carrier densities, to alloying at higher N incorporations, which typically influences the structure and optical properties in a broader range. The focus of this investigation will be on examining these changes with respect to nitrogen anion and additional cation substitutions. Finally, I aim to demonstrate the potentially superior solar energy conversion efficiency of these underexplored sulfide perovskite thin films by testing their potential for solar energy harvesting applications. This project synergistically combines my own doctoral research experience in the development of novel nitride semiconductors via reactive co-sputtering, with the capabilities and expertise of the host at DTU in Copenhagen, Denmark.

• DFG Programme: WBP Fellowship
• International Connection: Denmark
• Host: Professor Andrea Crovetto, Ph.D.