Study of how illumination affects the electrical properties of Al/n-gap Schottky diodes with varying amounts of Cu NCs-doped wm-cqd interlayer

In this study, the electrical characteristics of Al/n-GaP Schottky diodes fabricated with and without white mulberry (Morus alba) carbon quantum dot (WM-CQD) interfacial layers, which were doped with different amounts of copper nanoclusters (Cu NCs), were investigated under various illumination conditions. WM-CQDs were synthesized using a facile green hydrothermal method with urea and citric acid as precursors. The structural and optical properties of WM-CQDs doped with varying amounts of Cu NCs were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy techniques. Subsequently, WM-CQDs doped with assorted amounts of Cu NCs were deposited onto the n-GaP semiconductor through the spin coating technique to create a thin interface layer at the Al/n-GaP junction. After fabricating the Al/n-GaP/Au reference diode, Al/WM-CQD/n-GaP/Au and Al/WM-CQD:CuNCs/n-GaP/Au structures were created by forming circular Al contacts with a 1 mm radius on the interface layer. The junction parameters of Schottky diodes produced with and without interface layers under laboratory conditions were calculated using various techniques based on the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, which were first measured at room temperature in the dark, and then at room temperature, in the dark, and under different illumination conditions. The comparatively evaluation of results revealed the effects of WM-CQDs doped with Cu NCs on the illumination sensitivity of the Al/n-GaP junction.