Photovoltaic characteristics of Au/PVA (Bi-doped)/n-Si Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) at various temperatures

•I–V characteristics of diode were examined at various temperature and illumination.•PVA/n-Si SBD exhibits a photovoltaic behavior with Voc, Isc and FF.•The obtained results show the diode can be used as a photodiode.

The charge conduction properties of the Au/PVA (Bi-doped)/n-Si Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) were investigated using current–voltage–temperature (I–V–T) measurements in dark and under various illumination levels. For this purpose, the main diode parameters such as reverse-saturation current (Io), zero-bias barrier height (ΦBo), ideality factor (n), series resistance (Rs) and shunt resistance (Rsh) of diode were obtained as function of temperature and illumination level. Experimental results show that all of these electrical parameters are strong functions of illumination and temperature. The change in all electrical parameters becomes more important at low temperatures and illumination levels. While the n value decreases with increasing temperature and illumination level, ΦBo value increases. The fill factor (FF = Vm·Im/Voc·Isc) values were obtained as 0.34 at 80 K and 0.40 at 320 K under 50 W and these values are near to a photodiode. Therefore, the fabricated diode can be used as a photodiode in optoelectronic applications. The forward bias I–V characteristics of the diode have also been explained by the space charge limited current (SCLC) model.