Self-powered high-performance UV–vis–IR hybrid photovoltaic photodetector based on Epilobium angustifolium L. (Onagraceae)

Abstract

Water-soluble Epilobium angustifolium (EA) extract was successfully coated on n-type Si single crystal by spin coating method to obtain EA/n-Si heterojunction device. UV–vis absorption and SEM analysis of the EA film were performed and the optical band gap was calculated as 2.71 eV. Electro-optical measurements of the fabricated device were performed and was found to give very good photoresponse in the UV–vis-IR regions. According to the experimental results, the EA/n-Si heterojunction showed not only high-performance photodetector properties but also self-driven properties under visible light as well as under UV and IR lights. At 150 mW/cm2 visible light, the device demonstrated excellent photovoltaic properties with Voc and Isc values of 0.40 V and 4.65 A, respectively. Under IR light, the responsivity, specific detectivity and NPDR reached 0.65 A/W and 1.41 × 1012 Jones, 4.23 × 108 W−1 respectively. Finally, a high-performance organic/inorganic photodetector in the broadband range has been successfully fabricated.