Photovoltaic Effect of a Ferroelectric-Luminescent Heterostructure under Infrared Light Illumination

Abstract

In this report, a ferroelectric-luminescent heterostructure is designed to convert infrared light into electric power. We use BiFeO (BFO) as the ferroelectric layer and YO:Yb,Tm (YOT) as the upconversion layer. Different from conventional ferroelectric materials, this heterostructure exhibits switchable and stable photovoltaic effects under 980 nm illumination, whose energy is much lower than the band gap of BFO. The energy transfer mechanism in this heterostructure is therefore studied carefully. It is found that a highly efficient nonradiative energy transfer process from YOT to BFO plays a critical role in achieving the below-band-gap photon-excited photovoltaic effects in this heterostructure. Our results also indicate that by introducing asymmetric electrodes, both the photovoltage and photocurrent are further enhanced when the built-in field and the depolarization field are aligned. The construction of ferroelectric-luminescent heterostructure is consequently proposed as a promising route to enhance the photovoltaic effects of ferroelectric materials by extending the absorption of the solar spectrum.

Photovoltaic Effect Induced by Self-Polarization in BiFeO3 Films

“…Photovoltaic power generation is the main form of using solar energy. Photogenerated carriers are produced inside photovoltaic materials upon light irradiation on their surface, which endows the photovoltaic materials with important potential applications in the fields of solar cells, photodetection, photocatalysis, and so on. − Traditional photovoltaic devices are usually obtained through the construction of a p–n junction, and a built-in electric field ( E b ) is formed at the junction. − The photogenerated electrons and holes are separated and form a photocurrent in those devices. However, the preparation of solar cells based on p–n junctions is complicated.…”

Multimode Highly Tunable Photoluminescence of Eu3+ Ions Induced by Surface Photovoltage of Bi9V2O18Cl Perovskite Oxychloride Nanosheets and Application for Advanced Anticounterfeiting Agents

“…According to the relationship between the SPV signals and the separation of photogenerated charge carriers in space 22 , it means that whether under ultraviolet or visible light excitation, more photoholes are generated and separated by the increased Eu 3+ ion dopant, which suppressed the recombination of excited electrons of Eu 3+ to the ground level. Thus, increasing doping level can improve the decay time of Eu 3+ ion itself by a more efficient transfer of the photoinduced holes . Generally, the enhancement of the cross-relaxation (CR) between the Eu 3+ ions will degrade the rate of when the Eu 3+ ion concentration increases.…”

“…Thus, increasing doping level can improve the decay time of Eu 3+ ion itself by a more efficient transfer of the photoinduced holes. 35 Generally, the enhancement of the cross-relaxation (CR) between the Eu 3+ ions will degrade the rate of when the Eu 3+ ion concentration increases. This means that in the special layered host, the separation of charge carriers can improve the decay lifetime of Eu 3+ ions significantly and inhibit the decrease in decay lifetime caused by the concentration quenching.…”

Ferroelectric Materials Based Coupled Nanogenerators

“…Jia et al [215] realized a temperature-modulated, self-powered UV photodetector, based on the ITO/BFO/Ag device, for spotting light of 365 nm with intensity 271.4 mW/cm 2 and observed increased photocurrent ~60% when the bottom of the device was subjected to temperature variations (heating) of around 42.5 • C. The amplified current is manifested with the change in carrier concentration, convinced by the temperature effect and electron shift in the BFO layer, instigated by the thermo-phototronic effect. Mai et al [232] reported heterostructure, designed for the conversion of IR light into electricity, by employing BFO as a ferroelectric layer and upconversion layer of YOT (Y 2 O 3 :Yb). The structure revealed the convertible and stable PV-effect, under the illumination of 980 nm laser light, with the energy much smaller than the BFO E g , to induce a photovoltaic effect in BFO itself.…”