Temperature-dependent properties of organic-on-inorganic Ag/p-CuPc/n-GaAs/Ag photoelectric cell

A thin organic film of copper phthalocynanine (CuPc) as p-type semiconductor was deposited by vacuum evaporation on n-type GaAs single-crystal semiconductor substrate. Electrical, photoelectrical and frequency response of the cells were investigated at a temperature interval of 23-74 degrees C. Photoelectric characteristics were measured under semiconductor laser beam injection illumination (lambda = 650 nm), while frequency response was investigated by laser beam modulated with a frequency range of 10 Hz-100 kHz. It was observed that cell parameters such as rectification ratio; threshold voltage; nonlinearity coefficient; junction, shunt and series resistances; diode ideality factor and power conversion efficiency were temperature-dependent. Moreover, experimental data showed that open-circuit voltage decreases with an increase in frequency whereas short-circuit AC current falls with frequency but remains constant as a function of temperature. It was further observed that the short-circuit DC current remained constant with an increase in frequency as well as temperature. Based on the experimental data an equivalent circuit of photoelectric cell was proposed to explain the observed behaviour. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.