Pyroelectricity-enhanced lateral photovoltaics in pyramid-structured Si/PEDOT:PSS heterojunction for multifunctional...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Photovoltaics

Background:

• Lateral photovoltaic effects (LPEs) are crucial for position-sensitive detectors.
• Silicon/PEDOT:PSS heterojunctions offer tunable optoelectronic properties.
• Surface texturing significantly impacts photovoltaic device performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of pyramid etching duration on Si/PEDOT:PSS heterojunction LPEs.
• To explore the role of the pyroelectric effect in enhancing LPE performance.
• To demonstrate a wavelength-resolved optical imaging system utilizing LPE.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of Si/PEDOT:PSS heterojunctions with varying pyramid etching times (0-40 min).
• Systematic characterization of lateral photovoltaic effects (LPEs) and position sensitivity.
• Investigation of pyroelectric effect coupling with built-in fields.

Main Results:

• Optimal etching duration (30 min) yielded high position sensitivity (632.1 mV/mm) and low nonlinearity (1.87%).
• Pyroelectric effect significantly enhanced position sensitivity to 1221.8 mV/mm (193.2% improvement) with rapid response (0.15/0.15 ms).
• Effective LPE demonstrated over a wide electrode spacing (0.4–3.8 mm).

Conclusions:

• Etching duration critically controls LPE performance in Si/PEDOT:PSS heterojunctions.
• Pyroelectric coupling offers a novel pathway for superior photodetector performance.
• The developed LPE device enables versatile wavelength-resolved optical imaging.