Electrical property investigation of the Au/n-Si and Au/PVA+benzimidazole Co complex/n-Si diodes under ultraviolet illumination

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was doped using the di[1-(2-ethoxyethyl)-5-nitrobenzimidazole] cobalt dichloride and this polymeric composite was used as an interface in Au/n-Si diodes. The basic electrical properties of these fabricated Au/n-Si (MS) and Au/PVA+Co complex/n-Si (MPS) diodes were examined measuring voltage-dependent current (I(V)) data in various ultraviolet illumination intensities and room temperature. Electrical parameters of the MS and MPS diodes were calculated by thermionic emission, Norde, and Card & Rhoderick method. It was found that the ideality factor (n) values of the MS diode increased from 6.7 to 13.4 while the MPS ones increased from 3.4 to 7.5 with increasing illumination. Also, the photo-responsivity (PR) of MPS diode was obtained for P = 50 mW/cm2 (365 nm UV) as 0.29 A/W at − 5.00 V and 4.01 mA/W at 0 V.