000K utf8 1100 2025$c2025-10-29 1500 eng 2050 urn:nbn:de:gbv:27-dbt-68928-5 2051 10.1039/d5ce00351b 3000 Hagger, Thomas 3010 Arbiol, Jordi 3010 Botti, Silvana 3010 Dede, Didem 3010 El Alouani, Ahmed 3010 Fontcuberta i Morral, Anna 3010 Kawashima, Nico 3010 Lemerle, Raphael 3010 Marinoni, Stefano 3010 Mastropasqua, Chiara 3010 Michon, Adrien 3010 Piazza, Valerio 3010 Rabelo Freitas, Helena 3010 Spadaro, Maria Chiara 3010 Wodzislawski, Kamil Artur 4000 Link between graphene features and the resulting functionality of quasi-van der Waals Zn 3 P 2 [Hagger, Thomas] 4060 15 Seiten 4209 Zn 3 P 2 , made from earth-abundant elements, is a promising candidate for thin-film solar cells but faces limitations due to difficulties in achieving n-type doping and its large lattice mismatch with commercial substrates and a high thermal expansion coefficient, causing defects and cracks. Graphene substrates can address these challenges thanks to its weak van der Waals interactions with Zn 3 P 2 allowing for mechanical transfer of the thin film and strain-free growth. This study compares five graphene substrates for quasi-van der Waals epitaxial (q-vdWe) growth of polycrystalline Zn 3 P 2 thin films using molecular beam epitaxy. Surface features like steps and wrinkles on graphene were identified as main nucleation sites for Zn 3 P 2 , provided the graphene has minimal point defects. The highest-quality thin films, with the largest grain sizes, were grown on H-CVD graphene on the Si-face of 6H-SiC, featuring solely terraces of atomic height. All substrates showed comparable growth windows for crystalline Zn 3 P 2 , with higher growth temperatures improving crystal quality, as indicated by enhanced photoluminescence. Cryo-cathodoluminescence measurements revealed spatially localized sub-bandgap emissions, potentially linked to localized strain fields at grain boundaries of up to ±3% as identified by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. This work provides insights into advantages and drawbacks of utilising q-vdWe to produce Zn 3 P 2 thin films for solar cell applications and highlights the effects of graphene substrate choice and growth parameters on Zn 3 P 2 film quality. 4950 https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ce00351b$xR$3Volltext$534 4950 https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:27-dbt-68928-5$xR$3Volltext$534 4961 https://www.db-thueringen.de/receive/dbt_mods_00068928 5051 530