The Performance of Chitosan Layer in Au/N-Si Sandwich Structures as a Barrier Modifier

Abstract

This study focused on the structural, optical and electrical features of chitosan organic layer obtained by spin coating technique both on glass and n-Si substrates. XRD results indicated that chitosan has polycrystalline orthorhombic nature. While optical transmittance spectrum of the chitosan organic layer exhibited an increasing tendency in the visible range, band gap energy value was calculated as 4.23 eV for chitosan by UV-Vis spectrometer. Electrical performance of organic chitosan layer in a Schottky device was studied by fabricating of Au/n-Si and Au/chitosan/n-Si devices. The suitability of Au/chitosan/n-Si sandwich devices in optoelectronic applications were tested under dark and illumination conditions. The Au/chitosan/n-Si sandwich device exhibits good photodiode characteristics. Furthermore, the effect of X-ray radiation doses on the electrical properties of the Au/chitosan/n-Si sandwich device was also investigated. In order to get information about electrical characteristics as a function of X-ray radiation doses, Au/chitosan/n-Si sandwich device was exposed to X-ray radiation in same exposure time and various doses. The results highlighted that the performance of the device with chitosan organic interface layer deteriorated with increasing radiation dose. In addition, the transportation mechanism of chitosan based Schottky device was discussed in details.