The lateral photovoltaic effect in the Ni-SiO2 -Si structure with bias

Abstract We had designed a clamping device to study lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) in Ni-SiO2-Si structure due to the appropriate barrier height. We studied LPE with different laser wavelengths and power in Ni-SiO2-Si structures, the LPE have a prominent sensitivity and linearity. The most suitable laser wavelength is 532nm for studying the LPE in Ni-SiO2-Si structure, and LPE will increase with the laser power within a certain range and reach the threshold ultimately. The transient response time is 450 μs and the relaxation time is 2250 μs in Ni-SiO2-Si structure without bias. The LPE sensitivity have a significant improvement with bias. However, the LPE have a poor linearity between two electrodes when bias was applied on electrodes position. We change the bias application method, the linearity and sensitivity of LPE obtained a significant progress when bias was applied in middle of electrodes connection from -4V to -7V. The transient response time is 6 μs and the relaxion time is 47μs with -7V bias. Not only improve the LPE sensitivity but also increase response speed with bias. The research can provide a method for obtaining high sensitivity and response speed based on LPE sensors.