Photovoltaic characteristics of Au/PVA (Bi-doped)/n-Si Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) at various temperatures

The charge conduction properties of the Au/PVA (Bi-doped)/n-Si Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) were investigated using current-voltage-temperature (I-V-T) measurements in dark and under various illumination levels. For this purpose, the main diode parameters such as reverse-saturation current (I-o), zero-bias barrier height (Phi(Bo)), ideality factor (n), series resistance (R-s) and shunt resistance (R-sh) of diode were obtained as function of temperature and illumination level. Experimental results show that all of these electrical parameters are strong functions of illumination and temperature. The change in all electrical parameters becomes more important at low temperatures and illumination levels. While the n value decreases with increasing temperature and illumination level, Phi(Bo) value increases. The fill factor (FF = V-m center dot I-m/V-oc center dot I-sc) values were obtained as 0.34 at 80 K and 0.40 at 320 K under 50 Wand these values are near to a photodiode. Therefore, the fabricated diode can be used as a photodiode in optoelectronic applications. The forward bias I-V characteristics of the diode have also been explained by the space charge limited current (SCLC) model. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.