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Title: An In0.42Ga0.58N tunnel junction nanowire photocathode monolithically integrated on a nonplanar Si wafer

Abstract

Group III-nitride semiconductors exhibit many ideal characteristics for solar water splitting, including a tunable energy bandgap across nearly the entire solar spectrum and suitable band edge positions for water oxidation and proton reduction under visible and near-infrared light irradiation. To date, however, the best reported energy conversion efficiency for III-nitride semiconductor photocathodes is still below 1%. Here we report on the demonstration of a relatively efficient p-type In0.42Ga0.58N photocathode, which is monolithically integrated on an n-type nonplanar Si wafer through a GaN nanowire tunnel junction. The open pillar design, together with the nonplanar Si wafer can significantly maximize light trapping, whereas the tunnel junction reduces the interfacial resistance and enhances the extraction of photo-generated electrons. In addition, photodeposited Pt nanoparticles on InGaN nanowire surfaces significantly improve the cathodic performance. The nanowire photocathode exhibits a photocurrent density of 12.3 mA cm-2 at 0 V vs. RHE and an onset potential of 0.79 V vs. RHE under AM 1.5G one-sun illumination. Here, the maximum applied bias photon-to-current efficiency reaches 4% at ~0.52 V vs. RHE, which is one order of magnitude higher than the previously reported values for III-nitride photocathodes. Significantly, no performance degradation was measured for over 30 hours solar watermore » splitting with a steady photocurrent density ~12 mA cm-2 without using any extra surface protection, which is attributed to the spontaneous formation of N-terminated surfaces of InGaN nanowires to protect against photocorrosion.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6];  [1];  [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  2. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); McGill University, Quebec (Canada)
  3. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Soochow University, Suzhou (Canada)
  4. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Xi’an Jiaotong University (China)
  5. Xi’an Jiaotong University (China)
  6. Soochow University, Suzhou (China)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1984378
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1547923
Grant/Contract Number:  
EE0008086; 1804458; SC0011385
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Nano Energy
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 57; Journal ID: ISSN 2211-2855
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
42 ENGINEERING; Photocathode; Solar water splitting; InGaN; Nanowire; Tunnel junction

Citation Formats

Wang, Yongjie, Vanka, Srinivas, Gim, Jiseok, Wu, Yuanpeng, Fan, Ronglei, Zhang, Yazhou, Shi, Jinwen, Shen, Mingrong, Hovden, Robert, and Mi, Zetian. An In0.42Ga0.58N tunnel junction nanowire photocathode monolithically integrated on a nonplanar Si wafer. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.12.067.
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Wang, Yongjie, Vanka, Srinivas, Gim, Jiseok, Wu, Yuanpeng, Fan, Ronglei, Zhang, Yazhou, Shi, Jinwen, Shen, Mingrong, Hovden, Robert, & Mi, Zetian. An In0.42Ga0.58N tunnel junction nanowire photocathode monolithically integrated on a nonplanar Si wafer. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.12.067
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Wang, Yongjie, Vanka, Srinivas, Gim, Jiseok, Wu, Yuanpeng, Fan, Ronglei, Zhang, Yazhou, Shi, Jinwen, Shen, Mingrong, Hovden, Robert, and Mi, Zetian. Fri . "An In0.42Ga0.58N tunnel junction nanowire photocathode monolithically integrated on a nonplanar Si wafer". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.12.067. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1984378.
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@article{osti_1984378,
title = {An In0.42Ga0.58N tunnel junction nanowire photocathode monolithically integrated on a nonplanar Si wafer},
author = {Wang, Yongjie and Vanka, Srinivas and Gim, Jiseok and Wu, Yuanpeng and Fan, Ronglei and Zhang, Yazhou and Shi, Jinwen and Shen, Mingrong and Hovden, Robert and Mi, Zetian},
abstractNote = {Group III-nitride semiconductors exhibit many ideal characteristics for solar water splitting, including a tunable energy bandgap across nearly the entire solar spectrum and suitable band edge positions for water oxidation and proton reduction under visible and near-infrared light irradiation. To date, however, the best reported energy conversion efficiency for III-nitride semiconductor photocathodes is still below 1%. Here we report on the demonstration of a relatively efficient p-type In0.42Ga0.58N photocathode, which is monolithically integrated on an n-type nonplanar Si wafer through a GaN nanowire tunnel junction. The open pillar design, together with the nonplanar Si wafer can significantly maximize light trapping, whereas the tunnel junction reduces the interfacial resistance and enhances the extraction of photo-generated electrons. In addition, photodeposited Pt nanoparticles on InGaN nanowire surfaces significantly improve the cathodic performance. The nanowire photocathode exhibits a photocurrent density of 12.3 mA cm-2 at 0 V vs. RHE and an onset potential of 0.79 V vs. RHE under AM 1.5G one-sun illumination. Here, the maximum applied bias photon-to-current efficiency reaches 4% at ~0.52 V vs. RHE, which is one order of magnitude higher than the previously reported values for III-nitride photocathodes. Significantly, no performance degradation was measured for over 30 hours solar water splitting with a steady photocurrent density ~12 mA cm-2 without using any extra surface protection, which is attributed to the spontaneous formation of N-terminated surfaces of InGaN nanowires to protect against photocorrosion.},
doi = {10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.12.067},
journal = {Nano Energy},
number = ,
volume = 57,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Dec 21 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Fri Dec 21 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.12.067
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