Significant infrared lateral photovoltaic effect in Mn-doped ZnO diluted magnetic semiconducting film

Mn-doped ZnO has attracted considerable attention as an important kind of diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs). Here we report a new finding of lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) in Mn-doped ZnO thin film based on DMS/SiO2/Si structure. Remarkably the induced LPE laser can be extended to infrared region in Mn-doped ZnO film. Besides we studied the dependence of the lateral photovoltage (LPV) position sensitivity on the laser wavelength and optical power by modulating the two factors and give a complete theoretical analysis. The LPE observation adds a significant new functionality to this DMS material and suggests Mn-doped ZnO a potential candidate for versatile devices. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America