Analysis and calculation of electronic properties and light absorption of defective sulfur-doped silicon and theoretical photoelectric conversion efficiency.

Most material properties can be traced to electronic structures. Black silicon produced from SF6 or sulfur powder via irradiation with femtosecond laser pulses displays decreased infrared absorption after annealing, with almost no corresponding change in visible light absorption. The high-intensity laser pulses destroy the original crystal structure, and the doping element changes the material performance. In this work, the structural and electronic properties of several sulfur-doped silicon systems are investigated using first principle calculations. Depending on the sulfur concentration (level of doping) and the behavior of the sulfur atoms in the silicon lattice, different states or an absence of states are exhibited, compared with the undoped system. Moreover, the visible-infrared light absorption intensities are structure specific. The results of our theoretical calculations show that the conversion efficiency of sulfur-doped silicon solar cells depends on the sulfur concentrations. Additionally, two types of defect configurations exhibit light absorption characteristics that differ from the other configurations. These two structures produce a rapid increase in the theoretical photoelectric conversion efficiency in the range of the specific chemical potential studied. By controlling the positions of the atomic sulfur and the sulfur concentration in the preparation process, an efficient photovoltaic (PV) material may be obtainable.