Ferroelectric and photovoltaic properties of transition metal doped Pb(Zr0.14Ti0.56Ni0.30)O3-δ thin films

We report nearly single phase Pb(Zr0.14Ti0.56Ni0.30)O3-δ (PZTNi30) ferroelectric having large remanent polarization (15–30 μC/cm2), 0.3–0.4 V open circuit voltage (VOC), reduced band gap (direct 3.4 eV, and indirect 2.9 eV), large ON and OFF photo current ratio, and the fast decay time. Reasonably good photo current density (1–5 μA/cm2) was obtained without gate bias voltage which significantly increased with large bias field. Ferroelectric polarization dictates the polarity of VOC and direction of short circuit current (ISC), a step forward towards the realization of noncentrosymmetric ferroelectric material sensitive to visible light