A Ferroelectric-Photovoltaic Effect in SbSI Nanowires

Krystian Mistewicz; Marian Nowak; Danuta Stróż

doi:10.3390/nano9040580

A Ferroelectric-Photovoltaic Effect in SbSI Nanowires

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2019 Apr 9;9(4):580. doi: 10.3390/nano9040580.

Authors

Krystian Mistewicz¹, Marian Nowak², Danuta Stróż³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Physics-Center for Science and Education, Silesian University of Technology, Krasińskiego 8, 40-019 Katowice, Poland. krystian.mistewicz@polsl.pl.
² Institute of Physics-Center for Science and Education, Silesian University of Technology, Krasińskiego 8, 40-019 Katowice, Poland. marian.nowak@polsl.pl.
³ Institute of Material Science, University of Silesia, 75 Pułku Piechoty 1A, 41-500 Chorzów, Poland. danuta.stroz@us.edu.pl.

Abstract

A ferroelectric-photovoltaic effect in nanowires of antimony sulfoiodide (SbSI) is presented for the first time. Sonochemically prepared SbSI nanowires have been characterized using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and optical diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS). The temperature dependences of electrical properties of the fabricated SbSI nanowires have been investigated too. The indirect forbidden energy gap E_gIf = 1.862 (1) eV and Curie temperature T_C = 291 (2) K of SbSI nanowires have been determined. Aligned SbSI nanowires have been deposited in an electric field between Pt electrodes on alumina substrate. The photoelectrical response of such a prepared ferroelectric-photovoltaic (FE-PV) device can be switched using a poling electric field and depends on light intensity. The photovoltage, generated under λ = 488 nm illumination of P_opt = 127 mW/cm² optical power density, has reached U_OC = 0.119 (2) V. The presented SbSI FE-PV device is promising for solar energy harvesting as well as for application in non-volatile memories based on the photovoltaic effect.

Keywords: antimony sulfoiodide (SbSI); ferroelectric; nanodevices; nanowires; photovoltaic effect.