Temperature dependent current–voltage and photovoltaic properties of chemically prepared (p)Si/(n)Bi2S3 heterojunction

• We have fabricated the (p)Si/(n)Bi2S3 Schottky junction by chemical bath deposition method.
• The junction parameters calculated from the I–V characteristics are found to be temperature dependent.
• The photovoltaic property of the junction is very poor due to the presence of series resistance and other surface defects.

Ni-doped nanocrystalline Bi2S3 thin film is deposited on boron doped single crystal (p)-Si substrate by chemical bath deposition to form (p)Si/(n)Bi2S3 heterojunction structure. The electrical characterization of the (p)Si/(n)Bi2S3 heterojunction is carried out in the temperature range of 300 K–340 K and capacitance–voltage characteristics is measured at a frequency of 1 KHz at 300 K. Various junction parameters are calculated from the I–V characteristics. The ideality factor is found to be greater than unity with high series resistance. The ideality factor and series resistance decreases, whereas the saturation current density increases with increase in temperature. The J–V characteristics under illumination showed poor photovoltaic effect of the junction. The existence of higher value of ideality factor and large number of interface states in (p)Si/(n) Bi2S3 heterojunction reduced the photovoltaic conversion efficiency.