Fabrication and Optoelectronic Properties of Bismuth Oxide Thin Films Prepared by Thermal Evaporation

Abstract

This work shows the fabrication of Bi₂O₃/Si heterojunctions for solar cell applications. Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles were deposited on quartz, n- and p-type silicon substrates by thermal evaporation method. The structural and optical characteristics of the prepared Bi₂O₃ thin films were studied. The polycrystalline structure of these thin films was revealed with (111) direction. These Bi₂O₃ thin film has direct energy gap of 2.6 eV. The electrical measurements under dark and light conditions indicate a significant improvement conversion efficiency values for Al/n-Bi₂O₃/n-Si/Al heterojunction. The growth of the depletion layer width with the built-in potential was the cause of the decrease in device capacitance. The photovoltaic measurements were determined and the results showed that the Bi₂O₃/n-Si sample was the best.