Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of Cu 2 ZnGeSe 4 . First-Principles Calculations and Vacuum-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Ellipsometric Studies
Cu 2 ZnGeSe 4 is of interest for the development of next-generation thin-film photovoltaic technologies. To understand its electronic structure and related fundamental optical properties, we perform first-principles calculations for three structural variations: kesterite, stannite, and primitive-mixed CuAu phases. The calculated data are compared with the room-temperature dielectric functionϵ=ϵ1+iϵ2 spectrum of polycrystalline Cu 2 ZnGeSe 4 determined by vacuum-ultraviolet spectroscopic ellipsometry in the photon-energy range of 0.7 to 9.0 eV. Ellipsometric data are modeled with the sum of eight Tauc-Lorentz oscillators, and the best-fit model yields the band-gap and Tauc-gap energies of 1.25 and 1.19 eV, respectively. A comparison of overall peak shapes and relative intensities between experimental spectra and the calculated ϵ data for three structural variations suggests that the sample may not have a pure (ordered) kesterite phase. We found that the complex refractive index N=n+ik, normal-incidence reflectivity R, and absorption coefficients α are calculated from the modeled ϵ spectrum, which are also compared with those of Cu 2 ZnSnSe 4 . The spectral features for Cu 2 ZnGeSe 4 appear to be weaker and broader than those for Cu 2 ZnSnSe 4 , which is possibly due to more structural imperfections presented in Cu 2 ZnGeSe 4 than Cu 2 ZnSnSe 4 .