Sn doped CdTe as candidate for intermediate-band solar cells: A first principles DFT+GW study

Abstract

In this work, we investigate the electronic properties and defect formation energies of Sn doped CdTe combining first principles density-functional theory and many body GW calculations. Due to the Sn dopant, an isolated impurity band is formed in the middle of the forbidden band gap of CdTe allowing the absorption of sub-bandgap photons via an intermediate-band. Our results suggest CdTe:Sn as a promising candidate for the development of third-generation intermediate-band solar cells with theoretical efficiencies up to 63.2%.