Correlation between lateral photovoltaic effect and conductivity in p-type silicon substrates

Abstract

The lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) can be observed in semiconductors by irradiating a light spot position between electrodes on sample's surface. Because lateral photovoltaic voltage (LPV) is sensitively changed by light spot position, a LPE device has been tried as a position-sensitive detector. This study discusses the correlation between LPV and conductivity in p-type silicon and nano-structured Au deposited p-type silicon (nano-Au silicon), respectively. Conductivity measurement of the sample was carried out using the four-wire method to eliminate contact resistance, and conductivity dependence on LPV was simultaneously measured by changing the light irradiation position. The result showed a strong correlation between conductivity and LPV in the p-type silicon sample. The correlation coefficient was 0.87. The correlation coefficient between LPV and conductivity for the nano-Au silicon sample was 0.41.