Lead-Free Perovskite Narrow-Bandgap Oxide Semiconductors of Rare-Earth Manganates

[Image: see text] Tremendous success has been achieved in photovoltaic (PV) applications, but PV-generated electricity still cannot compete with traditional power in terms of price. Chemically stable and nontoxic all-oxide solar cells made from earth-abundant resources fulfill the requirements for low-cost manufacturing under ambient conditions and thus are promising as the next-generation approach to solar cells. However, the main obstacles to developing all-oxide solar cells are the spectral absorbers. Besides photovoltaics, novel chemically stable, nontoxic, and earth-abundant narrow-bandgap semiconductors are desired for photochemical applications in photodetectors, photoelectrodes, or photocatalysts. Herein, were report novel lead-free perovskite narrow-bandgap rare-earth semiconductors, YMnO(3), HoMnO(3), ErMnO(3), and YbMnO(3), which were identified by screening a family of perovskite rare-earth manganates, RMnO(3) (R = Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, and Yb). The sharp edge observed in their absorption spectra indicates the existence of band gaps, further confirmed with laser Raman fluorescence spectra. Good periodic on–off photoelectronic response was observed in 8 of the 12 members (i.e., R = La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, and Yb). Among them, YbMnO(3) is approved as an n-type semiconductor with a direct band gap near 1.35 eV, whose theoretical Shockley–Queisser efficiency is approximately 33.7% for single-p–n-junction solar cells. This work sheds light on exploring stable oxide semiconductors with a narrow band gap for future applications.