Synthesis of 2D yttrium zinc oxide nanosheets via simple chemical route toward high performance Schottky diode based on large charge carriers density and photoresponsivity

Yttrium zinc oxide (Zn 0.85 Y 0.15 O) nanostructures were stoichiometrically prepared by co-precipitation method. XRD, EDX, XPS, SEM, and TEM spectroscopy were examined to investigate structure, composition, and morphological characteristics. The synthesized nanocomposite exhibited polycrystalline structure with small crystallite size ∼ 27 nm in which the particles appeared in sheets like shape with high atomic density on surface. The optical parameters including energy gap ( E g ) and refractive index ( n ) were investigated from (T%) and (R%) measurements through wavelength range from 300–900 nm. Al/Y:ZnO/p-Si/Ag Schottky diode was fabricated using thermal evaporating technique and its current–voltage ( I – V ) was analyzed using different models. The photodiode showed non-ideal behavior with ideality factor greater than unity and small potential barrier. Under various illuminations, the photodiode has revealed high photosensitivity attributed to trapped charge carriers at the interface. The charge carrier density N d and built-in voltage V bi were estimated from Mott Schottky (M–S) function suggesting high Schottky diode efficiency.