Investigation of Photovoltaic Response in Brownmillerite Multiferroic KBiFe2O5

Abstract

Brownmillerite structured multiferroic KBiFe2O5 (KBFO) is an upcoming promising photoactive material for next-generation optoelectronic applications due to its intrinsic polarization. Herein, we reported the preparation, optical and electrical properties of polycrystalline KBiFe2O5 compound. The phase confirmation of orthorhombic KBFO nanoparticles prepared by a simple sol-gel technique was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern. Whereas, the surface morphology of KBFO sample was identified by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The band gap of KBFO was investigated by UV-Vis spectroscopy and found to be ∼1.65 eV which extends visible to infrared region compared to conventional perovskite-structured multiferroics. The optically active KBFO shows switchable photoresponse under visible light illumination. The evidence of photo responses in KBFO was explained on the basis of Current-Voltage characteristics. In summary, the multiferroicity in KBFO could be regarded as a potential candidate for the ferroelectric photovoltaic applications.