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Nano Research 2017, 10(6): 1872-1879 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1369-2
Research Article | Issue | Published: 17 December 2016

Broadband photovoltaic effect of n-type topological insulator Bi2Te3 films on p-type Si substrates

Show Author's Information Zhenhua Wang1,2,  Mingze Li1,2,  Liang Yang1,2,  Zhidong Zhang1,2( ),  Xuan P. A. Gao3( )
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science Institute of Metal Research Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road Shenyang 110016 China
School of Materials Science and Engineering University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road Hefei 230026 China
Department of Physics Case Western Reserve University ClevelandOhio 44106 USA
Keywords:
film, topological insulators, photovoltaic effect, Bi2Te3/Si
Cite this article:
Wang Z, Li M, Yang L, et al. Broadband photovoltaic effect of n-type topological insulator Bi2Te3 films on p-type Si substrates. Nano Research, 2017, 10(6): 1872-1879. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1369-2
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

We report the photovoltaic effects of n-type topological insulator (TI) Bi2Te3 films grown on p-type Si substrates by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The films containing large nanoplates with a smooth surface formed on p-Si exhibit good p–n diode characteristics under dark and light illumination conditions and display a good photovoltaic effect under the broadband range from ultraviolet (UV) to near infrared (NIR) wavelengths. Under the light illumination with a wavelength of 1, 000 nm, a short circuit current (ISC) of 19.2 μA and an open circuit voltage (VOC) of 235 mV are achieved. The maximum fill factor (FF) increases with a decrease in the wavelength or light density, achieving a value of 35.6% under 600 nm illumination. The photoresponse of the n-Bi2Te3/p-Si device can be effectively switched between the on and off modes in millisecond time scale. These findings are important for both the fundamental understanding and solar cell device applications of TI materials.


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About this article

Broadband photovoltaic effect of n-type topological insulator Bi2Te3 films on p-type Si substrates

Show Author's information Zhenhua Wang1,2, Mingze Li1,2, Liang Yang1,2, Zhidong Zhang1,2( ), Xuan P. A. Gao3( )
Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science Institute of Metal Research Chinese Academy of Sciences, 72 Wenhua Road Shenyang 110016 China
School of Materials Science and Engineering University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road Hefei 230026 China
Department of Physics Case Western Reserve University ClevelandOhio 44106 USA

Abstract

We report the photovoltaic effects of n-type topological insulator (TI) Bi2Te3 films grown on p-type Si substrates by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The films containing large nanoplates with a smooth surface formed on p-Si exhibit good p–n diode characteristics under dark and light illumination conditions and display a good photovoltaic effect under the broadband range from ultraviolet (UV) to near infrared (NIR) wavelengths. Under the light illumination with a wavelength of 1, 000 nm, a short circuit current (ISC) of 19.2 μA and an open circuit voltage (VOC) of 235 mV are achieved. The maximum fill factor (FF) increases with a decrease in the wavelength or light density, achieving a value of 35.6% under 600 nm illumination. The photoresponse of the n-Bi2Te3/p-Si device can be effectively switched between the on and off modes in millisecond time scale. These findings are important for both the fundamental understanding and solar cell device applications of TI materials.

Keywords: film, topological insulators, photovoltaic effect, Bi2Te3/Si

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 11 July 2016
Revised: 10 November 2016
Accepted: 15 November 2016
Published: 17 December 2016
Issue date: June 2017

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

Z. H. W. acknowledges the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51522104). X. P. A. G. acknowledges the NSF CAREER Award program (No. DMR-1151534) for financial support of research at CWRU. Z. D. Z. acknowledges the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51590883, 51331006 and KJZD-EW-M05-3).

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