Low temperature properties of organic-inorganic Ag/ p -CuPc/ n -GaAs/Ag photoelectric sensor

A thin organic film of p-type semiconducting copper phthalocynanine (CuPc) was deposited by vacuum evaporation on an n-type GaAs single-crystal semiconductor substrate. The fabricated Ag/p-CuPc/n-GaAs/Ag sensor was carried through an ageing process to stabilize the parameters. Voltage-current characteristics and photoelectrical response of the sensor were investigated at a wide temperature range of 82 to 350 K. Photoelectric characteristics were measured under nonmodulated filament-lamp illumination. It was observed that such sensor parameters as rectification ratio, threshold voltage, junction, shunt and series resistances, open-circuit voltage and short circuit current are temperature-dependent. It was found that wide-range voltage-current characteristics of the sensor may be described similarly to that of a Schottky barrier diode. Using the experimental data on voltage-current characteristics and absorbance of the CuPc films, the energy-band diagram of the p-CuPc/n-GaAs heterojunction was developed. It was shown that data obtained from simulation of an equivalent circuit of photoelectric sensor agreed with experimental results. Supported by the National Engineering and Scientific Commission of Pakistan