Photovoltaic effects in BiFeO3.

Authors :: Yang, S. Y.
Martin, L. W.
Byrnes, S. J.
Conry, T. E.
Basu, S. R.
Paran, D.
Reichertz, L.
Ihlefeld, J.
Adamo, C.
Melville, A.
Chu, Y.-H.
Yang, C.-H.
Musfeldt, J. L.
Schlom, D. G.
Ager, J. W.
Ramesh, R.
Source :: Applied Physics Letters. 8/10/2009, Vol. 95 Issue 6, p062909. 3p. 4 Graphs.
Publication Year :: 2009
Abstract: We report a photovoltaic effect in ferroelectric BiFeO3 thin films. The all-oxide heterostructures with SrRuO3 bottom and tin doped indium oxide top electrodes are characterized by open-circuit voltages ∼0.8–0.9 V and external quantum efficiencies up to ∼10% when illuminated with the appropriate light. Efficiencies are at least an order of magnitude larger than the maximum efficiency under sunlight (AM 1.5) thus far reported for ferroelectric-based devices. The dependence of the measured open-circuit voltage on film thickness suggests contributions to the large open-circuit voltage from both the ferroelectric polarization and band offsets at the BiFeO3/tin doped indium oxide interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]