A layer of indium zinc oxide (IZO) was deposited on the n-type Si substrate clad with a thin thermally grown SiOx layer by pulsed laser deposition to form the semiconductor-insulator-semiconductor (SIS) hetero-junction which exhibits substantial photo-induced responses. Investigation on the IZO layer deposited at various temperatures indicated that IZO film grown at 250 degrees C possesses a resistivity of 4.9 x 10(-4) Omega cm with the transmittance exceeding 80% in the wavelength range between near infrared to ultraviolet light. The photodetection device made of the SIS hetero-junction structure was found to exhibit the photoresponse (R) of 35 AW(-1) and 6.15 AW(-1) with a quick photo-response time less than 80 ms under the illumination of visible light and ultraviolet light, respectively. The underlying mechanism for such a unique characteristic was attributed to the suppression of majority carrier tunneling resulted from the Schottky barrier established at the SIS interfaces. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.