Progress of lateral photovoltaic effect: theoretical models and materials

Abstract

Photoelectric devices based on various theories and effects of photoelectricity have become the basic devices of human’s life, and are still a hot research field. Lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE), among significant photovoltaic mechanisms, exhibits a phenomenon in which the surface potential difference of a specific material system changes linearly with the incident laser position. Depending on this unique property, LPE has been extensively developed in position sensitive detectors (PSDs). The material and theoretical systems of LPE were constantly innovated with the emergence and continuous progress of nanotechnology and new materials. This article reviews the recent progress of LPE theory, e.g., P-N junction model and the theories based on Schottky barrier, Dambet effect, and diffusion. Meanwhile, material systems that contribute to LPE, including metal-semiconductors (MS), metal-oxide-Semiconductors (MOS), metal oxide, perovskites and organic semiconductors, are summarized as well. As an important tunning method, local surface plasmon resonance is also concerned together with some promising future of the material systems.