Distance-independent lateral photovoltaic effect in a-Si:H/c-Si p-i-n structure with the aid of bias voltage

In this paper, for the first time, we report a laser power-dependent lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) in a hydrogenated amorphous silicon/monocrystalline Si (a-Si:H/c-Si) p-i-n structure under different contact distances via the application of a transverse bias voltage. With an external bias voltage, the LPE improved dramatically and the extracted sensitivity increased linearly with laser power for different contact distances. More importantly, the position sensitivity was independent of contact distance. We attribute these results to both the increased transmitting possibility of photo-generated holes and the decreased tunnelling recombination possibility of diffusion holes and electrons by enhancing Schottky-barrier.