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

We report nearly single phase Pb(Zr0.14Ti0.56Ni0.30)O3-delta (PZTNi30) ferroelectric having large remanent polarization (15-30 mu C/cm(2)), 0.3-0.4 V open circuit voltage (V-OC), 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 mu A/cm(2)) was obtained without gate bias voltage which significantly increased with large bias field. Ferroelectric polarization dictates the polarity of V-OC and direction of short circuit current (I-SC), a step forward towards the realization of non-centrosymmetric ferroelectric material sensitive to visible light. (C) 2014 Author(s).