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Impact of TiO2 buffer layer on the ferroelectric photovoltaic response of CSD grown PZT thick films

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Abstract

Chemical solution deposition technique has been utilized to grow polycrystalline PZT thick films on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si and TiO2-buffered Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates. Effect of thin TiO2 buffer layer on the structural, dielectric and electrical properties of PZT films has been investigated in the present work. Polycrystalline single-phase PZT thick film is achieved using the buffer layer of TiO2. The disappearance of cracks in PZT films deposited on TiO2/Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate indicates the role of the buffer layer as a diffusion barrier for platinum into PZT. The dielectric constant of the PZT film is found to be increased from 104 to 403, while the dielectric loss is reduced from 0.19 to 0.06 at 1MHz using the buffer layer of TiO2. Reduction in the leakage current density from 4.45×10−5 to 2.42×10−10 A/cm2 is obtained for the titanium dioxide buffer layered PZT film. The saturation polarization (Ps = 45 μC/cm2) is achieved for the optimized TiO2-buffered PZT thick film. Optimized PZT film shows well-defined butterfly loop revealing its ferroelectric nature. Free carrier concentration of the optimized film is determined from the Mott Schottky analysis and found to be 4.28×1019 cm−3. The ferroelectric photovoltaic device is fabricated using the optimized PZT thick film, and photovoltaic measurements are done under UV illumination with variation in UV intensity from 2 to 24 mW/cm2. Short circuit current (Isc) increased from 1.42 × 10−9 to 0.63 × 10−7 A with increase in the UV intensity from 2 to 24 mW/cm2. However, open circuit voltage (−1.7V) is observed to remain constant with increase in the UV intensity 2 mW/cm2 to 24 mW/cm2, respectively. The power conversion efficiency is found to be increased from 0.15 to 0.58% with increase in the UV intensity from 2 to 24 mW/cm2. The transient photocurrent is increased from 1.80 × 10−9 to 1.57×10−7 A with increase in the UV intensity from 2 to 24 mW/cm2 at fixed DC bias voltage (5V) for the fabricated photovoltaic device. Response of the optimized fabricated photovoltaic cell to the incident UV light of different intensities is fast with excellent stability. A significant enhancement in the photocurrent from 1.68×10−7 to 4.98×10−7 A is found with heating along with UV illumination (intensity =24 mW/cm2).

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Acknowledgements

Authors are thankful to University of Delhi and DST for technical and financial support. One of the author Vandana acknowledges the research fellowship from CSIR, govt. of India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Vandana, Reema Gupta, Ram Pal Tandon & Vinay Gupta

  2. Department of Physics, Miranda House, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Monika Tomar

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Vandana, Gupta, R., Tomar, M. et al. Impact of TiO2 buffer layer on the ferroelectric photovoltaic response of CSD grown PZT thick films. Appl. Phys. A 127, 427 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-021-04552-3

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