Photovoltaic properties of Aurivillius phase Bi5FeTi3O15 thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

We report a remarkable photovoltaic effect in pulsed laser deposited multiferroic aurivillius phase Bi5FeTi3O15 (BFTO) thin films sandwiched between ZnO:Al transparent conductive oxide top electrode and SrRuO3 bottom electrode fabricated on amorphous fused silica substrates. The structural and micro structural properties of these films were analysed by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy techniques. The films were showing a photo sensitive ferroelectric behaviour with a notable apparent polarization in the range of 10–15 μC/cm2. These films also exhibited a switchable photo-response and this parameter was observed to be sensitive to polarisation field and the polarization direction. The device shows a large ON/OFF photo current ratio with an open circuit voltage of 0.14 V. The photo response at zero bias of this BFTO based heterostructures showed rapid increase to a saturation value of 6 μA at zero bias.