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Copper thiocyanate (CuSCN) is a p-type semiconductor that exhibits hole-transport and wide-band gap (∼3.9 eV) characteristics. However, the conductivity of CuSCN is not sufficiently high, which limits its potential application in optoelectronic devices. Herein, CuSCN thin films were exposed to chlorine using a dry etching system to enhance their electrical properties, yielding a maximum hole concentration of 3 × 10

Photo(electro)catalysis methods have drawn significant attention for efficient, energy-saving, and environmental-friendly organic contaminant degradation in wastewater. However, conventional oxide-based powder photocatalysts are limited to UV-light absorption and are unfavorable in the subsequent postseparation process. In this paper, a large-area crystalline-semiconductor nitride membrane with a distinct nanoporous surface is fabricated, which can be scaled up to a full wafer and easily retrieved after photodegradation. The unique nanoporous surface enhances broadband light absorption, provides abundant reactive sites, and promotes the dye-molecule reaction with adsorbed hydroxyl radicals on the surface. The superior electric contact between the nickel bottom layer and nitride membrane facilitates swift charge carrier transportation. In laboratory tests, the nanostructure membrane can degrade 93% of the dye in 6 h under illumination with a small applied bias (0.5 V vs Ag/AgCl). Furthermore, a 2 inch diameter wafer-scale membrane is deployed in a rooftop test under natural sunlight. The membrane operates stably for seven cycles (over 50 h) with an outstanding dye degradation efficiency (92%) and satisfied average total organic carbon removal rate (≈50%) in each cycle. This demonstration thus opens the pathway toward the production of nanostructured semiconductor layers for large-scale and practical wastewater treatment using natural sunlight.

Epitaxial growth using graphene (GR), weakly bonded by van der Waals force, is a subject of interest for fabricating technologically important semiconductor membranes. Such membranes can potentially offer effective cooling and dimensional scale-down for high voltage power devices and deep ultraviolet optoelectronics at a fraction of the bulk-device cost. Here, we report on a large-area β-Ga2O3 nanomembrane spontaneous-exfoliation (1 cm × 1 cm) from layers of compressive-strained epitaxial graphene (EG) grown on SiC, and demonstrated high-responsivity flexible solar-blind photodetectors. The EG was favorably influenced by lattice arrangement of SiC, and thus enabled β-Ga2O3 direct-epitaxy on the EG. The β-Ga2O3 layer was spontaneously exfoliated at the interface of GR owing to its low interfacial toughness by controlling the energy release rate through electroplated Ni layers. The use of GR templates contributes to the seamless exfoliation of the nanomembranes, and the technique is relevant to eventual nanomembrane-based integrated device technology.

Introducing suitable electron/hole transport layers and transparent conductive layers (TCLs) into perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is key to enhancing the selective extraction of charge carriers and r...

There has been a relentless pursuit of transverse electric (TE)-dominant deep ultraviolet (UV) optoelectronic devices for efficient surface emitters to replace the environmentally unfriendly mercury lamps. To date, the use of the ternary AlGaN alloy inevitably has led to transverse magnetic (TM)-dominant emission, an approach that is facing a roadblock. Here, we take an entirely different approach of utilizing a binary GaN compound semiconductor in conjunction with ultrathin quantum disks (QDisks) embedded in AlN nanowires (NWs). The growth of GaN QDisks is realized on a scalable and low-cost Si substrate using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy as a highly controllable monolayer growth platform. We estimated an internal quantum efficiency of ∼81% in a wavelength regime of ∼260 nm for these nanostructures. Additionally, strain mapping obtained by high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy is studied in conjunction with the TE and TM modes of the carrier recombination. Moreover, for the first time, we quantify the TE and TM modes of the PL emitted by GaN QDisks for deep-UV emitters. We observed nearly pure TE-polarized photoluminescence emission at a polarization angle of ∼5°. This work proposes highly quantum-confined ultrathin GaN QDisks as a promising candidate for deep-UV vertical emitters.

Growing III-nitride nanowires on 2D materials is advantageous, as it effectively decouples the underlying growth substrate from the properties of the nanowires. As a relatively new family of 2D materials, MXenes are promising candidates as III-nitride nanowire nucleation layers capable of providing simultaneous transparency and conductivity. In this work, we demonstrate the direct epitaxial growth of GaN nanowires on Ti

Printable organic sensors fabricated from solution-processed π-conjugated polymers (π-CPs) are promising candidates to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) due to the intriguing physical, chemical and electronic properties of π-CPs. These devices, often termed organic chemiresistors, require good sensing capabilities to transduce stimuli from specific VOCs at low concentrations into analytical electric signals. However, discriminating such VOCs using organic chemiresistors has proven very challenging. Herein, we report that the molecular-level electrochemical doping of π-CPs with solid-state ionic liquids (SILs) significantly improves their electrical conductivity (∼10−1 S cm−1) and selective VOC interactions, which can be manipulated through different π-CPs:SIL blend ratios. These characteristics enable the fine discrimination of VOCs at concentrations in the parts-per-billion (ppb) range under low power consumption (

Controlling the lattice orientation is significant for both two-dimensional (2D) vdW layered and non-layered film growth process. Here we report a unique and universal phenomena termed lattice orientation heredity (LOH). The LOH enables product films (including 2D layered materials) to inherit the lattice orientation from reactant films in a chemical conversion process, excluding the requirement on the substrate lattice order. We demonstrate the process universality by investigating the lattice transformations in the carbonization, nitridation, and sulfurization of epitaxial MoO2 , ZnO, and In2 O3 thin films. Their resultant compounds all inherit mono-oriented feature from their precursor oxides, including 2D vdW layered semiconductors (e.g., MoS2 ), metallic films (e.g., MXene-like Mo2 C and MoN), wide bandgap semiconductors (e.g., hexagonal ZnS), and ferroelectric semiconductors (e.g., In2 S3 ). Using LOH-grown MoN as a seeding layer, we achieved mono-oriented GaN on an amorphous quartz substrate. The LOH process is a universal strategy capable of growing epitaxial thin films (including 2D vdW layered materials) not only on single-crystalline but also the non-crystalline. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

In this work, we demonstrated the direct growth of GaN nanowires on indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated fused silica substrate. The nanowires were grown catalyst-free using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE). The effect of growth condition on the morphology and quality of the nanowires is systematically investigated. Structural characterization indicates that the nanowires grow in the (0001) direction directly on top of the ITO layer perpendicular to the substrate plane. Optical characterization of the nanowires shows that yellow luminescence is absent from the nanowire’s photoluminescence response, attributed to the low number of defects. Conductive atomic force microscopy (C-AFM) measurement on n-doped GaN nanowires shows good conductivity for individual nanowires, which confirms the potential of using this platform for novel device applications. By using a relatively low-temperature growth process, we were able to successfully grow high-quality single-crystal GaN material without the degradation of the underlying ITO layer.

Group-III nitride nano-dimensional materials with noncentrosymmetric crystal structure offer an exciting area of piezotronics for energy conversion applications. We experimentally report the piezotronic and piezo-phototronic effects of n-InGaN nanowires (NWs) having an emission wavelength in the visible region (≈510 nm). The n-type InGaN NWs, exhibiting high structural and optical quality, were grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE) on Ti/TaN/Si substrates to facilitate the direct bottom electrical contact to the NWs. Further, we use Pt/Ir conductive atomic force microscopy (c-AFM) tip as a top electrical contact to the NW. Applying compressive strain on the NWs using a c-AFM tip, the Schottky barrier height (SBH) formed at the metal-semiconductor NW interface was tuned by means of strain induced piezo-potential. Thus, we study the two-way coupling of mechanical and electrical energy results in piezotronics of n-InGaN NWs. Such measurements were further carried out under optical excitation with 405 nm laser to understand its effect on change in SBH. Thereby, we demonstrate the three-way coupling of the piezo-phototronics of n-InGaN NWs by exploiting their excellent visible optoelectronic properties. The photogenerated carriers reduce the SBH while they play a lesser role at higher tip deflection force on NWs. This revealed that at the higher strain on NW, the piezo fields screen the photoexcited carriers hence resulting in a negligible change in I-V characteristics for ≥ 6 nN tip force with and without illumination. Thus, the investigation of nanoscale piezotronic and piezo-phototronic effects of n-InGaN NWs provides an opportunity to enable piezoelectric functional devices to be used as strain-tunable, self-powered electronics and optoelectronics applications.

Heavy reliance on extensively studied AlGaN based light emitting diodes (LEDs) to replace environmentally hazardous mercury based ultraviolet (UV) lamps is inevitable. However, external quantum efficiency (EQE) for AlGaN based deep UV emitters remains poor. Dislocation induced nonradiative recombination centers and poor electron-hole wavefunction overlap due to the large polarization field induced quantum confined stark effect (QCSE) in “Al” rich AlGaN are some of the key factors responsible for poor EQE. In addition, the transverse electric polarized light is extremely suppressed in “Al”-rich AlGaN quantum wells (QWs) because of the undesired crossing over among the light hole (LH), heavy hole (HH) and crystal-field split-off (SH) states. Here, optical and structural integrities of dislocation-free ultrathin GaN quantum disk (QDisk) (~ 1.2 nm) embedded in AlN barrier (~ 3 nm) grown employing plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE) are investigated considering it as a novel nanostructure to realize highly efficient TE polarized deep UV emitters. The structural and chemical integrities of thus grown QDisks are investigated by high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM). We, particularly, emphasize the polarization dependent photoluminescence (PL) study of the GaN Disks to accomplish almost purely TE polarized UV (~ 260 nm) light. In addition, we observed significantly high internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of ~ 80 %, which is attributed to the enhanced overlap of the electron-hole wavefunction in extremely quantum confined ultrathin GaN QDisks, thereby presenting GaN QDisks embedded in AlN nanowires as a practical pathway towards the efficient deep UV emitters.

Semiconductor heterostructures of multiple quantum wells (MQWs) have major applications in optoelectronics. However, for halide perovskites-the leading class of emerging semiconductors-building a variety of bandgap alignments (i.e., band-types) in MQWs is not yet realized owing to the limitations of the current set of used barrier materials. Here, artificial perovskite-based MQWs using 2,2',2″-(1,3,5-benzinetriyl)-tris(1-phenyl-1-H-benzimidazole), tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum, and 2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline as quantum barrier materials are introduced. The structures of three different five-stacked perovskite-based MQWs each exhibiting a different band offset with CsPbBr

Despite the importance of gallium nitride (GaN) nanostructures for photocatalytic activity, relatively little attention has been paid to their geometrical optimization on the basis of wave optics. In this study, we present GaN truncated nanocones to provide a strategy for improving solar water splitting efficiencies, compared to the efficiency provided by the conventional geometries (i.e., flat surface, cylindrical, and cone shapes). Computational results with a finite difference time domain (FDTD) method and a rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) reveal important aspects of truncated nanocones, which effectively concentrate light in the center of the nanostructures. The introduction of nanostructures is highly recommended to address the strong light reflection of photocatalytic materials and carrier lifetime issues. To fabricate the truncated nanocones at low cost and with large-area, a dry etching method was employed with thermally dewetted metal nanoparticles, which enables controllability of desired features on a wafer scale. Experimental results exhibit that the photocurrent density of truncated nanocones is improved about three times higher compared to that of planar GaN.

High-density dislocations in materials and poor electrical conductivity of p-type AlGaN layers constrain the performance of the ultraviolet light emitting diodes and lasers at shorter wavelengths. To address those technical challenges, we design, grow, and fabricate a novel nanowire structure adopting a graded-index separate confinement heterostructure (GRINSCH) in which the active region is sandwiched between two compositionally graded AlGaN layers, namely, a GRINSCH diode. Calculated electronic band diagram and carrier concentrations show an automatic formation of a p–n junction with electron and hole concentrations of ∼1018 /cm3 in the graded AlGaN layers without intentional doping. The transmission electron microscopy experiment confirms the composition variation in the axial direction of the graded AlGaN nanowires. Significantly lower turn-on voltage of 6.5 V (reduced by 2.5 V) and smaller series resistance of 16.7 Ω (reduced by nearly four times) are achieved in the GRINSCH diode, compared with the ...

Water splitting using InGaN-based photocatalysts may make a great contribution to future renewable energy production systems. Among the most important parameters that need to be optimized are those related to substrate lattice-matching compatibility. Here, we directly grow InGaN nanowires (NWs) on a metallic Ti/Si template, for improving the water splitting performance compared to a bare Si substrate. The open circuit potential of the epitaxially grown InGaN NWs on metallic Ti was almost two times higher than when directly grown on the Si substrate. The interfacial transfer resistance was also reduced significantly after introducing the metallic Ti interlayer. An applied-bias-photon-to-current conversion efficiency of 2.2% and almost unity faradaic efficiency for hydrogen generation were achieved using this approach. The InGaN NWs grown on Ti showed improved stability for hydrogen generation under continuous operation conditions, when compared to those grown on Si, emphasizing the role of the semiconductor-on-metal approach in enhancing the overall efficiency of water splitting devices.

Above-bandgap photo-irradiation is known to improve the low temperature growth of II-VI semiconductors, but the trade-offs in the substrate temperature and light source power density are not well known. We investigated these effects on the growth of ZnSe epilayers on GaAs. We find that the above-bandgap photo-irradiation can improve the ZnSe epilayer without substantially negatively impacting the underlying GaAs epilayer only if the laser energy is below a threshold intensity. When the threshold is exceeded, the growth rate drops, the optical properties of ZnSe layer deteriorate and interface intermixing is enhanced. Together, cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and photoluminescence results suggest that photo-irradiation at moderate to high laser energies produces a trade-off in interface intermixing and planar defect formation. Most importantly, the damage produced by high laser energies does not start at the interface but instead in the bulk. Further flexibility for selecting the temperature and photo-irradiation intensities could be realized by turning on the laser irradiation after the ZnSe growth has been initiated, limiting the potential intermixing at the interface.

Gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires are one of the most promising photoelectrode materials due to their high stability in acidic and basic electrolytes, and tunable band edge potentials. In this study, GaN nanowire arrays (GaN NWs) were prepared by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE); their large surface area enhanced the solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency. More significantly, graphene was grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), which enhanced the electron transfer between NWs for water splitting and protected the GaN NW surface. Structural characterizations of the prepared composite were performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The photocurrent density of Gr/GaN NWs exhibited a two-fold increase over pristine GaN NWs and sustained water splitting up to 70 min. These improvements may accelerate possible applications for hydrogen generation with high solar to hydrogen conversion efficiency.

Severe melt-back etching has forced the epitaxy of GaN on Si to use an AlN buffer layer for growing high-quality two-dimensional layers, despite its high resistivity. Herein, we report a metal-based pre-orienting layer (POL) for growing GaN nanostructures (NSs) to replace the traditional AlN buffer layer. Two metals, titanium (Ti) and hafnium (Hf), were evaluated as POLs. We succeeded in fabricating arrays of GaN NSs with highly preferred orientation using selective-area growth. The crystallographic phase of the POLs critically affected the evolved orientation of the crystals. Photoluminescence measurements revealed that GaN NSs with Hf-based POLs were of reasonably high quality. We believe that this result will facilitate broader III-V semiconductor applications using alternative substrates moving beyond conventional Si-based optoelectronics.

GaAs/GaInAs multiple-quantum-well (MQW) shells having different GaInAs shell width formed on the surface of self-catalyzed GaAs core nanowires (NWs) are grown on (100) Si substrate using molecular beam epitaxy. The photoluminescence emission from GaAs/GaInAs MQW shells and the carrier lifetime could be varied by changing the width of GaInAs shell. Time-resolved photoluminescence measurements showed that the carrier lifetime had a fast and slow decay owing to the mixing of wurtzite and zinc-blende structures of the NWs. Furthermore, strain relaxation caused the carrier lifetime to decrease beyond a certain thickness of GaInAs quantum well shells.

InGaN-based nanowires (NWs) have been investigated as efficient photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting devices. In this work, the InGaN/GaN NWs were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) having InGaN segments on top of GaN seeds. Three axial heterojunction structures were constructed with different doping types and levels, namely n-InGaN/n-GaN NWs, undoped (u)-InGaN/p-GaN NWs, and p-InGaN/p-GaN NWs. With the carrier concentrations estimated by Mott–Schottky measurements, a PC1D simulation further confirmed the band structures of the three heterojunctions. The u-InGaN/p-GaN and p-InGaN/p-GaN NWs exhibited optimized stability in pH 0 electrolytes for over 10 h with a photocurrent density of about –4.0 and –9.4 mA/cm2, respectively. However, the hydrogen and oxygen evolution rates of the Pt-treated u-InGaN/p-GaN NWs exhibited a less favorable stoichiometric ratio. On the other hand, the Pt-decorated p-InGaN/p-GaN NWs showed the best PEC performance, generating approximately 1000 µmol/cm2 hydrogen and 550 µmol/cm2 oxygen in 10 h. The band-engineered p-InGaN/p-GaN axial NWs-heterojunction demonstrated a great potential for highly efficient and durable photocathodes.

Growing III-nitride materials on unconventional substrates is attractive since it gives the possibility to fabricate novel devices at a potentially reduced cost. Spontaneously grown III-nitride nanowire structure is capable of achieving this goal, as they provide the capability to epitaxially grow high-quality single crystalline structures without global lattice and thermal matching requirement between the material and the substrate. In this work, we present the growth and characterization of GaN nanowire using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE) using an indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated silica substrate. The nanowires are shown to grow in the [0001] direction perpendicular to the substrate plane, with n-polar polarity. We found that the lateral size of the nanowires closely follows the grain size of the underlying ITO layer. Temperature-dependent photoluminescence measurement indicates a high-quality GaN material as indicated by the high internal quantum efficiency value. Conductive AFM measurement was performed to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing the GaN nanowire on ITO for device fabrication. By growing GaN nanowires on top of ITO-coated silica substrate, we open up the possibility of fabricating transparent nitride-based devices using transparent scalable substrate.

In this study, we demonstrate a transistor-type ZnO nanowire (NW) memory device based on the surface defect states of a rough ZnO NW, which is obtained by introducing facile H2O2 solution treatment. The surface defect states of the ZnO NW are validated by photoluminescence characterisation. A memory device based on the rough ZnO NW exhibits clearly separated bi-stable states (ON and OFF states). A significant current fluctuation does not exist during repetitive endurance cycling test. Stable memory retention characteristics are also achieved at a high temperature of 85 °C and at room temperature. The surface-treated ZnO NW device also exhibits dynamically well-responsive pulse switching under a sequential pulse test configuration, thereby indicating its potential practical memory applications. The simple chemical treatment strategy can be widely used for modulating the surface states of diverse low-dimensional materials.

This work was supported by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) baseline Funding No. BAS/1/ 1614-01-01. T.K.N., J.-W.M., and B.S.O. gratefully acknowledge funding support from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) under Grant No. KACST TIC R2-FP-008.

K.J.L. and N.A.M. contributed equally to this work. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

We report on a method for controlling the polarity of gallium nitride (GaN) using an E-beam evaporated aluminum (Al) layer on a sapphire substrate. A high-temperature nitridation process was designed to enable the amorphous Al layer to serve as a nucleation layer for single-crystal Ga-polar GaN growth. The Al layer also acts as a mask that prevents N-polar GaN growth. As a result, Ga-polar and N-polar GaN can be grown on the Al layer and sapphire surface, respectively. This method is not only advantageous for the selective polarity control but also to simplify the fabrication process of lateral polarity structures.

In this paper, we demonstrate an ultraviolet photodetector (UV-PD) that uses coalesced gallium nitride (GaN) nanorods (NRs) on a graphene/Si (111) substrate grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. We report a highly sensitive, self-powered, and hybrid GaN NR/graphene/Si (111) PD with a relatively large 100 mm2 active area, a high responsivity of 17.4 A/W, a high specific detectivity of 1.23 × 1013 Jones, and fast response speeds of 13.2/13.7 μs (20 kHz) under a UV light of 355 nm at zero bias voltage. The results show that the thin graphene acts as a perfect interface for GaN NRs, encouraging growth with minimum defects on the Si substrate. Our results suggest that the GaN NR/graphene/Si (111) heterojunction has a range of interesting properties that make it well-suited for a variety of photodetection applications.

We investigate the coalescent GaN nanorods grown on Si (100) and Si (111) substrates. Our results clearly show that GaN nanorods grown on both substrates have the same structural, optical and morphological properties. However, we observed a clear difference in terahertz (THz) radiation between the two sets of GaN nanorods. With high gallium molecular beam flux around 6 × 10−7 Torr, coalescent GaN nanorods grown on Si (111) substrates exhibit observable THz radiation, while the ones grown on Si (100) substrates do not. The inactive THz behavior of the GaN nanorods grown on Si (100) substrate is due to the presence of randomly-rotated GaN nanorods during coalescence. The dissimilarity in THz radiation behavior between the two GaN nanorods, i.e. interfering incident optical pulse thus exhibiting inactive THz radiation from GaN nanorods grown on (100) substrate indicate that the nanorods are attractive for further THz applications not limited to III-N materials system but also other materials systems.

The non-centrosymmetric crystal structures of polar-semiconductors comprising GaN, InN, AlN, and ZnO intrigued the scientific community in investigating their potential for a strain-induced nano-energy generation. The coupled semiconducting and piezoelectric properties produce a piezo-potential that modulates the charge transport across their heterostructure interfaces. By using conductive-atomic force microscopy, we investigate the mechanism that gives rise to the piezotronic effect in AlGaN nanowires (NWs) grown on a molybdenum (Mo) substrate. By applying external bias and force on the NWs/Mo structure using a Pt–Ir probe, the charge transport across the two adjoining Schottky junctions is modulated due to the change in the apparent Schottky barrier heights (SBHs) that result from the strain-induced piezo-potential. We measured an increase in the SBH of 98.12 meV with respect to the background force, which corresponds to an SBH variation ∂ϕ∂F of 6.24 meV/nN for the semiconductor/Ti/Mo interface. The SBH modulation, which is responsible for the piezotronic effect, is further studied by measuring the temperature-dependent I–V curves from room temperature to 398 K. The insights gained from the unique structure of AlGaN NWs/Mo shed light on the electronic properties of the metal-semiconductor interfaces, as well as on the potential application of AlGaN NW piezoelectric nanomaterials in optoelectronics, sensors, and energy generation applications.

A highly crystalline single- or few-layered 2D-MoS2 induces a high dark current, due to which an extremely small photocurrent generated by a few photons can be veiled or distorted. In this report, we show that suppression in the dark current with the enhancement in the photocurrent of a 2D-based photodetector, which is a prerequisite for photoresponse enhancement, can be achieved by constructing an ideal p‐n junction based on functionalizing n-type 2D-MoS2 with p-type quantum dots (QDs). Highly crystalline solution-processed manganese oxide QDs (MnO QDs) are synthesized via the pulsed femtosecond laser ablation technique in ethanol. The ablated MnO QDs are spray-coated on an exfoliated 2D-MoS2 substrate with interdigitated Au electrodes through N2-assisted spraying. In the resulting MnO QD-decorated 2D-MoS2 photodetector with a heterojunction, dark current is reduced and is accompanied by photocurrent enhancement, thereby markedly improving the photoresponsivity and detectivity of MoS2-based devices. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms contributing to this enhancement, power- and wavelength-dependent photoresponses, along with material characterizations based on spectroscopic, chemical, morphological measurements, and analyses, are discussed.

Progress in the design and fabrication of ultraviolet and deep-ultraviolet group III–nitride optoelectronic devices, based on aluminum gallium nitride and boron nitride and their alloys, and the heterogeneous integration with two-dimensional and oxide-based materials is reviewed. We emphasize wide-bandgap nitride compound semiconductors (i.e., (B, Al, Ga)N) as the deep-ultraviolet materials of interest, and two-dimensional materials, namely graphene, two-dimensional boron nitride, and two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides, along with gallium oxide, as the hybrid integrated materials. We examine their crystallographic properties and elaborate on the challenges that hinder the realization of efficient and reliable ultraviolet and deep-ultraviolet devices. In this article we provide an overview of aluminum nitride, sapphire, and gallium oxide as platforms for deep-ultraviolet optoelectronic devices, in which we criticize the status of sapphire as a platform for efficient deep-ultraviolet devices and detail advancements in device growth and fabrication on aluminum nitride and gallium oxide substrates. A critical review of the current status of deep-ultraviolet light emission and detection materials and devices is provided.

Nitrogen flow rate is one of the important growth parameters for the growth of group-III nitride nanowires in plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. However, nitrogen flow rate has received less attention compared to the group-III metal fluxes since its effects are not as prominent as that of the metal fluxes. In this study, we investigated the effects of nitrogen flow rate on the morphology and composition of AlGaN nanowires. Reducing the nitrogen flow rate improved the structural uniformity and increased the Al composition. We present a composition change model and show that excess nitrogen suppresses Ga desorption by recombining the Ga atoms, thereby causing a change in the composition of AlGaN. It was confirmed that the influence of the nitrogen flow rate on the Al composition varied with the growth temperature. These results provide insights into the role of nitrogen flow rate on the growth of AlGaN nanowires and suggest that more sophisticated growth control is possible by considering the nitrogen flow rate.

Consumer electronics have increasingly relied on ultra-thin glass screen due to its transparency, scalability, and cost. In particular, display technology relies on integrating light-emitting diodes with display panel as a source for backlighting. In this study, we undertook the challenge of integrating light emitters onto amorphous quartz by demonstrating the direct growth and fabrication of a III-nitride nanowire-based light-emitting diode. The proof-of-concept device exhibits a low turn-on voltage of 2.6 V, on an amorphous quartz substrate. We achieved ~ 40% transparency across the visible wavelength while maintaining electrical conductivity by employing a TiN/Ti interlayer on quartz as a translucent conducting layer. The nanowire-on-quartz LED emits a broad linewidth spectrum of light centered at true yellow color (~ 590 nm), an important wavelength bridging the green-gap in solid-state lighting technology, with significantly less strain and dislocations compared to conventional planar quantum well nitride structures. Our endeavor highlighted the feasibility of fabricating III-nitride optoelectronic device on a scalable amorphous substrate through facile growth and fabrication steps. For practical demonstration, we demonstrated tunable correlated color temperature white light, leveraging on the broadly tunable nanowire spectral characteristics across red-amber-yellow color regime.

We report on advanced types of coverglasses, which include the hierarchical micro- and subwavelength-structured surfaces for improved absorption efficiency of photovoltaic modules. Prism-shaped microstructures (PSMSs) help eliminate the optical shading caused by the metal grid of solar cells. The subwavelength structures (SWSs) with a tapered shape behave as a refractive index matching layer to reduce the surface reflection at the interface of air and coverglass. The geometries of the PSMSs and SWSs were designed by ray-tracing and the rigorous coupled-wave analysis method simulations, respectively, which provided the design guidelines. The PSMSs and SWSs were fabricated by a simple two-step process consisting of an isotropic wet etching process with hydrofluoric acid solution using a SiN x mask and a self-masked dry etching process, respectively. A hybrid patterned coverglass incorporating the PSMSs with SWSs were mounted on GaInP/(In)GaAs/Ge triple-junction solar cells with a precise alignment process. The measured power conversion efficiency of the subreceiver module with the patterned glass reached 32.97% for 1 sun, which is 11.19% higher compared with a subreceiver module with a flat coverglass.

We report the fabrication of near-vertically elongated GaN nanorods on quartz substrates. To control the preferred orientation and length of individual GaN nanorods, we combined molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) with pulsed-mode metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The MBE-grown buffer layer was composed of GaN nanograins exhibiting an ordered surface and preferred orientation along the surface normal direction. Position-controlled growth of the GaN nanorods was achieved by selective-area growth using MOCVD. Simultaneously, the GaN nanorods were elongated by the pulsed-mode growth. The microstructural and optical properties of both GaN nanorods and InGaN/GaN core–shell nanorods were then investigated. The nanorods were highly crystalline and the core–shell structures exhibited optical emission properties, indicating the feasibility of fabricating III-nitride nano-optoelectronic devices on amorphous substrates.

Self-assembled nanowires are posed to be viable alternatives to conventional planar structures, including the nitride epitaxy for optoelectronic, electronic and nano-energy applications. In many cases, current injection and extraction at the nanoscopic scale are essential for marked improvement at the macroscopic scale. In this investigation, we study the mechanism of nanoscale current injection and the origin of improvement of the flow of charged carriers at the group-III nitride semiconductor surface and metal-semiconductor interfaces. Conductive atomic force microscopy (c-AFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) enable a rapid analysis of the electrical and morphological properties of single and ensemble nanostructures. The surface potential and current injection of AlGaN nanowire-based LEDs are spatially mapped before and after surface treatment with KOH solution. Treated-nanowires showed an improved current spreading and increased current injection by nearly 10×, reduced sub-turn-on voltage (as low as 5 V), and smaller series resistance. The reduced contact potential confirms the lower semiconductor/metal barrier, thus enabling larger carriers flow, and correlates with the 15% increase in injection efficiency in macroscopic LEDs. The improvement leads to the normalization of nanoscale electrical conducting properties of UV AlGaN-based nanowire-LEDs and lays the foundation for the realization of practical nanowire-based device applications.

High-performance GaAs tunnel diodes (TDs) are fabricated by using Si delta-doping technique. The GaAs TDs exhibited a high peak tunnel-current density of 2,735 A/cm2 and low specific resistivity of 1.46 × 10−4 Ωcm2. However, the performance of the GaAs TDs deteriorated once the amount of Si delta doping exceeded a certain limit, which has been rarely reported elsewhere. Detailed analyses and numerical simulations of GaAs TDs with various amounts of Si delta doping prove that Si amphoteric behavior governs the performance limit. GaAs TDs with precisely controlled Si delta doping are suitable for cutting-edge tandem solar cell applications.

InGaN-based nanowires (NWs) have been extensively studied for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting devices owing to their tunable bandgap and good chemical stability. Here, we further investigated the influence of Si doping on the PEC performance of InGaN-based NW photoanodes. The Si dopant concentration was controlled by tuning the Si effusion cell temperature (TSi) during plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy growth and further estimated by Mott-Schottky electrochemical measurements. The highest Si dopant concentration of 2.1 × 1018 cm−3 was achieved at TSi = 1120 °C, and the concentration decreased with further increases in TSi. The flat-band potential was calculated and used to estimate the conduction and valence band edge potentials of the Si-doped InGaN-based NWs. The band edge potentials were found to seamlessly straddle the redox potentials of water splitting. The linear scan voltammetry results were consistent with the estimated carrier concentration. The InGaN-based NWs doped with Si at TSi = 1120 °C exhibited almost 9 times higher current density than that of the undoped sample and a stoichiometric evolution of hydrogen and oxygen gases. Our systematic findings suggest that the PEC performance can be significantly improved by optimizing the Si doping level of InGaN-based NW photoanodes.