Strain engineering of ferroelectric KNbO3 for bulk photovoltaic applications: an insight from density functional theory calculations.

A large ferroelectric (FE) polarization and low bandgap are essential to improving the bulk photovoltaic response which is the generation of photocurrent in the polar non-centrosymmetric materials such as FE perovskite oxides. Among various perovskite oxides, Potassium Niobate (KNbO3, KNO) is a promising FE material for bulk photovoltaic applications as its bandgap and polarization can be tuned effectively by strain, doping, or by applying an electric field. In this work, using the density functional theory calculations, we present an insight into the strain engineering of polarization, band structure, and optical properties of the cubic (C), tetragonal (T), and orthorhombic (O) structures of KNO. The tensile and compressive strain under the triaxial, biaxial, and uniaxial conditions are applied along the direction parallel and perpendicular to the polar axis of KNO structures. We find that the bandgap decreases along with a substantial increment of polarization on the application of tensile strain along the direction parallel to the polar axis. In T (O) phase at  +2% strain, the polarization increases by 18 µC cm-2 (14 µC cm-2) in triaxial, 26 µC cm-2 (16 µC cm-2) in biaxial, and 29 µC cm-2 (29 µC cm-2) in uniaxial conditions with a considerable decreasing of bandgap with respect to zero strain condition. Therefore, wisely applying the tensile strain along the direction parallel to the polar axis, the photovoltaic efficiency of KNO can be improved.