BiFeO3 (BFO) and BiFe1-xCrxO3 (BFCO) (x = 0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03) thin films have been fabricated using chemical solution deposition technique. The bandgap of BFO and BFCO thin films is found to be lying in the visible region making these films suitable candidates for potential solar energy harvesting applications. Density functional theory based calculations have also been performed to study the effect of B-site (Cr) doping on the electronic properties of BFO and BFCO. The BiFe1-xCrxO3 (x = 0.02) thin films exhibited well saturated PE hysteresis loops with a maximum remanent and saturation polarization of about 43 μC/cm2 and 64 μC/cm2, respectively. In contrast to pure BFO, a high value of short circuit current density (Jsc) of magnitude 766.60 μA/cm2 along with the open circuit voltage (Voc) of 106 mV was obtained for BiFe0.98Cr0.02O3 thin film structure under illumination with a laser of wavelength 470 nm and intensity 20 mW/cm2. The Au/BiFe0.98Cr0.02O3/ITO/glass heterostructure displays a remarkably enhanced value of Ion/Ioff ratio (8.4 × 104). The observed results clearly highlight the potential of Cr doped BFO thin film structure for the development of cost effective light-driven devices.
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