Abstract

The wide bandgap p-type metal pseudohalide semiconductor copper(I) thiocyanate (CuSCN) can serve as a transparent hole transport layer in various opto-electronic applications such as perovsksite and organic solar cells and light-emitting diodes. The material deposits as one-dimensional CuSCN nanorod arrays, which are advantageous due to their high surface area and good charge transport properties. However, the growth of high-quality epitaxial CuSCN nanorods has remained a challenge. Here, we introduce a low cost and highly scalable room temperature procedure for producing epitaxial CuSCN nanorods on Au(111) by an electrochemical method. Epitaxial CuSCN grows on Au(111) with a high degree of in-plane as well as out-of-plane order with +0.22% coincidence site lattice mismatch. The phase of CuSCN that deposits is a function of the Cu2+/SCN- ratio in the deposition bath. A pure rhombohedral material deposits at higher SCN- concentrations, whereas a mixture of rhombohedral and hexagonal phases deposits at lower SCN- concentrations. A Au/epitaxial CuSCN/Ag diode has a diode quality factor of 1.4, whereas a diode produced with polycrystalline CuSCN has a diode quality factor of 2.1. A highly ordered foil of CuSCN was produced by epitaxial lift-off following a triiodide etch of the thin Au substrate. The 400 nm-thick CuSCN foil had an average 94% transmittance in the visible range and a 3.85 eV direct bandgap.

Department(s)

Chemistry

Comments

U.S. Department of Energy, Grant DE-FG02-08ER46518

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1520-5002; 0897-4756

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2023 American Chemical Society, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

08 Feb 2022

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Chemistry Commons

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