Substrate heat-assisted spray pyrolysis of crack-free ytterbium sesquioxide-Si heterojunction diodes for photo-sensing applications

•A spray pyrolysis is used to develop ytterbium sesquioxide (Yb2O3) on aluminoborosilicate glass substrates at variable substrate temperatures.•The structure improved with optical spectrum transparency and the altered crystallite and grain size shifts the bandgap energy to higher wavelengths.•The film structure at 700 °C exhibited the best results, including an electrical conductivity of 2.503×10–15 S/cm and an activation energy of 0.129 kJ/mol.•The Yb2O3/P-Si heterojunction barrier height increases from 0.67 to 0.70 as the substrate temperature rises.•The best ideality factors (n) of 4.5 and 2.9 are observed in Yb2O3/P-Si heterojunction fabricated at 700 °C under dark and light conditions, respectively.