Enhancement of photoresponse and photovoltaic properties in KBiFe2O5/BiFeO3 bilayer thin films

In this report, the performance of a new photovoltaic device configuration in which bilayer KBiFe2O5 (KBFO) / BiFeO3 (BFO) as absorber materials have been investigated and compared with the single active layer-based devices of BFO and KBFO. The obtained short-circuit current density of 58.81 μAcm-2, open-circuit voltage of 0.65 V, and power conversion efficiency of 0.014 % for the complete photovoltaic device glass/FTO/KBFO/BFO/Ag are comparatively higher than that of glass/FTO/BFO/Ag and glass/FTO/KBFO/Ag devices. It has been observed that the active bilayer KBFO/BFO shows switchable photoresponse with respect to positive and negative polarities. This work may offer the procedures for further optimizing the photo absorber layer, thereby improving the performances of multiferroic-based devices for ferroelectric photovoltaic applications.