Synthesis and characterization of Lithium-doped BaTiO₃Si/(100) thin films with variations of 0 %, 0.5 %, 1 % and 1.5 % as potential forerunners of solar cells

Thin films of BaTiO₃Si/(100) in Lithium with doping variations of 0%, 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% were successfully grown on a p-type Si substrate using Chemical Solution Deposition method. The films were annealed at 850 °C for 15 hours. The crystal structure was characterized using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) with Material Analysis Using Diffraction (MAUD), Scanning Electron Microscope- Energy Dispersive X-Ray (SEM-EDX), optical absorption, and current – voltage (I-V) as potential solar cells. The results showed that the addition of Lithium doping affected the value of the lattice parameters and formed tetragonal crystals. The characterization results show that the bandgap energy value of the thin film due to lithium doping reduces the bandgap energy value because the donor atom added to a semiconductor causes the allowable energy level to be slightly below the conduction band. The presence of this new band causes the thin film bandgap energy to decrease with a five-valent tantalum dip. The morphological properties showed that the BaTiO3/Si(100) thin film particles in the deposited Lithium had a reasonably homogeneous grain. With the addition of lithium acetate as a binder into barium titanate, the grain size is getting smaller because it is suspected that the lithium-ion radius is smaller than the barium-ion radius. Measurement of I-V on the thin film shows that the output voltage value increases with more light intensity hitting the surface of the thin film. The greater the light intensity, the greater the energy of the photons, so the electrons are easier to jump. The three things above (both electrical and morphological properties) conclude that the thin films grown have the potential for solar cells.