Photovoltaic effects in BiFeO(3)

Abstract

We report a photovoltaic effect in ferroelectric BiFeO(3) thin films. The all-oxide heterostructures with SrRuO(3) bottom and tin doped indium oxide top electrodes are characterized by open-circuit voltages similar to 0.8-0.9 V and external quantum efficiencies up to similar to 10% when illuminated with the appropriate light. Efficiencies are at least an order of magnitude larger than the maximum efficiency under sunlight (AM 1.5) thus far reported for ferroelectric-based devices. The dependence of the measured open-circuit voltage on film thickness suggests contributions to the large open-circuit voltage from both the ferroelectric polarization and band offsets at the BiFeO(3)/tin doped indium oxide interface.