Impact of alkaline earth metal doping on the structural, electronic, and optical properties of all inorganic lead-free CsSnX3 (X = I, Br) perovskites: a first-principles study

Abstract

Recently, researchers have focused on developing more stable, Pb-free perovskites with improved processing efficiency and notable light harvesting ability. In this regard, Sn-based (Sn-b) perovskites have gained considerable interest in developing eco-friendly perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the oxidation of Sn2+ to Sn4+ deteriorates the performance of Sn-b PSCs. Nevertheless, this issue could be mitigated by doping alkaline earth (AE) metal. Herein, we have studied the significance of AE doping on CsSnX3 (X = Br, I) perovskites using density functional theory based calculations. The structural, electronic, and optical properties of CsAE y Sn1−y X3 (y = 0, 0.25; AE = Be, Mg, Ca, Sr) compounds were systematically investigated to explore potential candidate materials for photovoltaic applications. Formation energy calculations suggested that the synthesis of other AE-doped compounds is energetically favorable except for the Be-doped compounds. The band gaps of the materials were calculated to be in the range of 0.12–1.02 eV using the generalized gradient approximation. Furthermore, the AE doping considerably lowers the exciton binding energy while remarkably enhancing the optical absorption of CsSnX3, which is beneficial for solar cells. However, in the case of Be and Mg doping, an indirect band gap is predicted. Our theoretical findings demonstrate the potential of executing AE-doped perovskites as absorber material in PSCs, which could deliver better performance than pristine CsSnX3 PSCs.