Investigation of fundamental electrical and optoelectronic properties of an organic- and carbon-based MnPc/GC photodiode with high photosensitivity

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Abstract The aim of this work is to provide an alternative to optoelectronic devices that use carbon and organic materials. To achieve this, we coated a modified MnPc organic semiconductor compound onto a graphite-like carbon (GC) thin film using the thermal evaporation technique, and fabricated an organic-based, highly light-sensitive MnPc/GC hybrid heterojunction. The heterojunction had a transmittance of approximately 60% in the visible region, an absorption coefficient of ∼106 m−1, and an energy band gap of 2.6 eV. Subsequently, Ag contacts were grown on the surface of each layer, and the Ag/MnPc/GC/Ag photodiode was subjected to fundamental electrical analysis at various light intensities and a ±3 V applied potential. Analysis in a dark environment revealed that the photodiode had a rectification ratio of 2.59 × 103, a series resistance of 28 Ω, and a shunt resistance of 4.17 × 104 Ω, as calculated from Ohm’s law. The diode ideality factor and barrier height of the photodiode were determined from thermionic emission theory to be 5.60 and 0.71 eV, respectively, and it was observed that these decreased with increasing light intensity. The photodetector parameters of the MnPc/GC hybrid photodiode were determined under positive and negative applied potentials at various light intensities. The highest photocurrent, photoconductive responsivity, photosensitivity, and specific detectivity were determined to be 1.512 × 10−1 A, 11.52 A.W−1, 9.83 × 105, and 2.48 × 1012 Jones, respectively, which were significantly higher than those reported in literature for organic and inorganic-based photodiodes. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the Ag/MnPc/GC/Ag photodiode holds promise as an alternative for sensors, solar cells, photodetectors, and optoelectronic communications applications.