In this work, the La-doped ZnO thin films were fabricated with different La concentrations by the use of sol–gel technique to synthesize the photodevice. The transparent metal oxide La-doped ZnO thin films were grown on glass and [Formula: see text]-Si substrates using spin coating technique. Optical, surface morphology and electrical characterization of the fabricated Al/[Formula: see text]-Si/La:ZnO/Al devices have been performed using [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] characteristics under dark and different illumination conditions. Herein, from [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] characteristics, the crucial electronic parameters such as barrier height, ideality factor and series resistance were investigated. The photodevice transient photocurrent increases with the increase of illumination intensity. The current ratios of [Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text] were calculated for the fabricated devices. Among the devices, the highest photoresponse was found to be about 2186 for the Al/[Formula: see text]-Si/La(0.5 wt.%):ZnO/Al structure. The [Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text] behavior of fabricated device confirms the presence of interface states. The obtained results and photoresponse behaviors suggested that Al/[Formula: see text]-Si/La:ZnO/Al devices can enhance the applications in optoelectronic devices such as photodetectors.
