Study on the graphene/silicon Schottky diodes by transferring graphene transparent electrodes on silicon

•Different graphene/silicon heterostructures were fabricated.•Electronic and optoelectronic properties of the heterostructures were studied.•Graphene/silicon heterostructures were further explored for photodetectors.

Graphene/silicon heterostructures present a Schottky characteristic and have potential applications for solar cells and photodetectors. Here, we fabricated graphene/silicon heterostructures by using chemical vapor deposition derived graphene and n-type silicon, and studied the electronic and optoelectronic properties through varying their interface and silicon resistivity. The results exhibit that the properties of the fabricated configurations can be effectively modulated. The graphene/silicon heterostructures with a Si (111) interface and high resistivity show a better photovoltaic behavior and should be applied for high-performance photodetectors. With the combined atomic force microscopy and theoretical analysis, the possible origination is discussed. The work here should be helpful on exploring high-performance graphene/silicon photoelectronics.