Effect of ambient temperature on electrical properties of nanostructure n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diode

The nanostructure n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diode was fabricated by sol–gel method. The structural and morphological properties of the nanostructure ZnO film have been investigated. The X-ray diffraction spectra indicated that the films are of polycrystalline nature. The scanning electron microscopy images indicate that the surface morphology of ZnO film is almost homogeneous and the ZnO film is consisted of the circular formed with coming together of the nanoparticles. The electrical characterization of nanostructure n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diode has been investigated by current–voltage characteristics. The ideality factor (n) of the diode was found for different ambient temperatures and the obtained 6.40 value for 296 K is higher than unity due to the interface states between the two semiconductor materials and series resistance. The values of n increased with decreasing ambient temperature. The reverse current of the diode increased with illumination intensity of 100 mW cm−2 and the diode gave a maximum open circuit voltage Voc of 0.19 V and short-circuits current Isc of 8.03 × 10−8 A.

► The nanostructure n-ZnO/p-Si heterojunction diode was fabricated by sol–gel method.
► The structural and morphological properties of the film have been investigated.
► The electrical characterization of the diode has been investigated by current–voltage method.
► The ideality factor (n) of the diode was found for different temperatures.
► The values of n increased with decreasing ambient temperature.