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We report an external solar power conversion efficiency of ∼1.43% in BiFeO3(BFO)/BiMnO3(BMO) bilayer thin films. Both films are epitaxially grown on (111) oriented niobium doped SrTiO3 (NSTO) single crystal substrates by pulsed laser deposition. By illuminating the BFO/BMO films under 1 Sun (AM 1.5 G), we found a remarkably high fill factor of ∼0.72, much higher than values reported for devices based on BFO or BMO alone. In addition, we demonstrate that the photocurrent density and photovoltage are tunable by changing the polarization direction in the BFO/BMO bilayer, as confirmed by the macroscopic polarization-voltage (P-V) hysteresis loop. This effect is described in terms of a more favorable energy band alignment of the electrode/bilayer/NSTO heterostructure junction, which controls photocarrier separation.

We report an external solar power conversion efficiency of ~0.1% in Bi-Mn-O thin films grown onto (111) oriented Niobium doped SrTiO3 (STO) single crystal substrate by pulse laser deposition (PLD). The films contain BiMnO3 (BMO) and Mn3O4 (MO) phases, which both grow epitaxially. The growth conditions were tailored to obtain films with different Bi/Mn ratios. The films were subsequently illuminated under a sun simulator (AM 1.5 G). We find that the Bi/Mn ratio in the film affects the magnitude of the photo induced voltage and photocurrent and therefore the photovoltaic conversion efficiency. Specifically, a higher Bi/Mn ratio (towards unity) in the film increases the power conversion efficiency. This effect is described in terms of a more favorable energy band alignment of the film/substrate hetero-structure junction, which controls photo carrier separation.