A Study on the effect of Cr doping on the Structural, Optical and Photovoltaic Properties of BFO based Heterostructures

Herein, this work highlights the influence of chromium substitution in BiFeO3 (BFO) along with the roles engaged by electron transport (ETL) and hole transport layer (HTL) in the p-i-n heterostructure. Investigation into the structural and optical properties reveal that Cr doping reduces the grain size, increases the absorbance capabilities and reduces the bandgap of BFO to 2.2 eV. Furthermore, the ETL and HTL layers ameliorated the electrical properties and boosted the PV performance to 0.6 V and 0.76 mA/cm
²
with a remarkable increment up to 70 % in efficacy. The ETL and HTL play a key role in curbing the dark current and counters the diode formation, thereby enhancing the carrier extraction properties of the cell. Overall, the three fabricated devices, namely, standalone undoped BFO, Cr-doped BFO and NiO/BFCrO/WS2 heterojunction solar cells were contrasted and compared for ameliorated PV properties.