Electrical transport mechanisms and photovoltaic behavior of 2-(2-furanylmethylene) propanedinitrile/p-Si heterojunction

•2-(2-Furanylmethylene) propanedinitrile/p-Si heterojunction was fabricated.•Analysis of forward current density–voltage revealed two conduction mechanisms.•Reverse current density–voltage showed Poole–Frenkel conduction mechanism at higher voltage.•The heterojunction showed a photovoltaic behavior under illumination.

Au/2-(2-furanylmethylene) propanedinitrile/p-Si heterojunction was fabricated using conventional thermal evaporation technique. Current density–voltage (J–V) characteristics of the heterojunction were investigated at different temperatures. Tunneling conduction mechanism in the lower voltage range was identified from the forward bias (J–V) characteristics. The calculated value of the change of built-in voltage with respect to the absolute temperature is (−1.88 × 10−3 V K−1). At higher voltages, a space charge limited current (SCLC) mechanism controlled by an exponential trapping distribution above the valence band edge was observed. The total concentration of traps was found to be 8.077 × 1021 m−3. Under reverse bias, the conduction mechanism is due to thermally generated carriers in the lower voltage range and the Poole–Frenkel effect is observed in the higher voltage range. The heterojunction showed a photovoltaic behavior under illumination with an open-circuit voltage of 0.19 V and a short-circuit current density of 102.7 mA m−2.

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