Investigation of KBiFe2O5 as a Photovoltaic Absorber

KBiFe2O5 (KBFO) was grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on SrTiO3 (001) (STO), 1 at. % Nb-SrTiO3 (001) (Nb-STO) and MgAl2O4 (001) (MAO). In the case of the MAO substrate, epitaxial growth is obtained. As its bandgap is relatively low (1.6 eV in the bulk), KBFO is a promising candidate for oxide photovoltaics. In this work we examine the growth of KBFO by PLD by looking at its structure and composition, and we investigate the optical properties of the films obtained. A photovoltaic architecture based on KBFO films is proposed, and a solar cell behavior based on KBFO absorber is obtained.