Rectifying and photovoltaic properties of ZnCo₂O₄/Si heterostructure grown by pulsed laser deposition

ZnCo₂O₄/Si heterostructures have been fabricated by a pulsed laser deposition method, and their transport behaviors and photovoltaic properties have been characterized. The ZnCo₂O₄/Si heterostructures show a good rectifying behavior at five different temperatures ranging from 50 K to 290 K. The measurements of the photovoltaic response reveal that a photovoltage of 33 mV is generated when the heterostructures are illuminated by a 532 nm laser of 250 mW/cm² and mechanically chopped at 2500 Hz. Both the photocurrent and the photovoltage clearly increase with the increase of the laser intensity at room temperature. However, the photovoltage peak of the heterostructures decreases with the increase of the temperature. This work may open new perspectives for ZnCo₂O₄/Si heterostructure-based devices.