A high-performance broad band UV/visible photodetector has been successfully fabricated on a fully wide bandgap ZnO/ZnS type-II heterojunction core/shell nanowire array. The device can detect photons with energies significantly smaller (2.2 eV) than the band gap of ZnO (3.2 eV) and ZnS (3.7 eV), which is mainly attributed to spatially indirect type-II transition facilitated by the abrupt interface between the ZnO core and ZnS shell. The performance of the device was further enhanced through the piezo-phototronic effect induced lowering of the barrier height to allow charge carrier transport across the ZnO/ZnS interface, resulting in three orders of relative responsivity change measured at three different excitation wavelengths (385, 465, and 520 nm). This work demonstrates a prototype UV/visible photodetector based on the truly wide band gap semiconducting 3D core/shell nanowire array with enhanced performance through the piezo-phototronic effect.

The piezo‐phototronic effect is of immense importance for improving the performance of optoelectronic nanodevices. This is accomplished by tuning the charge carrier generation, separation, and transport under the influence of the inner piezopotential. In this paper, a broad band photodetector is demonstrated that is based on II‐VI binary CdSe/ZnTe core/shell nanowire arrays, in which photodetection is greatly enhanced by the piezo‐phototronic effect. The photodetector performance under UV (385 nm), blue (465 nm), and green (520 nm) illumination infers a saturation free response with an intensity variation near two orders of magnitude, where the peak photocurrent (125 μA) is two orders higher at 0.25 kilogram force (kgf) compared to no load (0.71 μA). The resulting (%) responsivity changed by four orders of magnitude. The significant increase in responsivity is believed to arise from: 1) the piezo‐phototronic effect induced by a change in the Schottky barrier height at the Ag–ZnTe junction, and in the type‐II band alignment at the CdSe–ZnTe interfaces, in conjugation with 2) a small lattice mismatch between the CdSe and ZnTe epitaxial layers, which lead to reduced charge carrier recombination. This work thus extends the piezo‐phototronic effect to a group II‐VI binary semiconductor heterostructure and demonstrates the importance of the epitaxial interface in a core/shell nanowire photodetector.

Achieving a high-quality interface is of great importance in core-shell nanowire solar cells, as it significantly inhibits interfacial recombination and thus improves the photovoltaic performance. Combining thermal evaporation of CdSe and pulsed laser deposition of ZnTe, we successfully synthesized nearly lattice matched all wurtzite CdSe/ZnTe core-shell nanowires on silicon substrates. Comprehensive morphological and structural characterizations revealed that a wurtzite ZnTe shell layer epitaxially grows over a wurtzite CdSe core nanowire with an abrupt interface. Further optical studies confirmed a high-quality interface and demonstrated efficient charge separation induced by the type-II band alignment. A representative photovoltaic device has been demonstrated and yielded an energy-conversion efficiency of 1.7% which can be further improved by surface passivation. The all-wurtzite core-shell nanowire with an epitaxial interface offers an attractive platform to explore the piezo-phototronic effect and promises an efficient hybrid nano-sized, energy harvesting system.

The equilibria and speciation of the proton cryptate polyoxometalate alpha-(H2)W(12)O(40)]6- (1) were examined by NMR following the phase-transfer cation metathesis of aqueous Na(6)1 with Q+Br-/CH(2)Cl(2), leading to the isolation of the (n-Bu)4N+ (Q+) salts Q(6)1 and alpha-Q5[(H3)W(12)O(40)](Q(5)2). Several groups report salts of the protonated anions H(x)1 (x = 1 and 2) with no consensus on proton numbers or locations. Reported herein, a combination of 1H and 183W NMR evidence, elemental analysis, acid titration measurements, and H/D isotopomer assignments establishes that in nonaqueous media the internal cryptand cavity of 1 reversibly accommodates only one more proton to form 2. Because an external proton must transfer across the close-packed tungsten oxide surface of 1, which should constitute a substantial activation barrier, it is significant that the transformation is instantaneous by 1H NMR (1 equiv of HBr in CH(3)CN), whereas the reverse process is slow (t1/2 approximately 17.4 h; 1 equiv of Q+OH-).

Modern electronics are developing electronic-optical integrated circuits, while their electronic backbone, e.g., field-effect transistors (FETs), remains the same. However, further FET down scaling is facing physical and technical challenges. A light-effect transistor (LET) offers electronic-optical hybridization at the component level, which can continue Moore's law to the quantum region without requiring a FET's fabrication complexity, e.g., physical gate and doping, by employing optical gating and photoconductivity. Multiple independent gates are therefore readily realized to achieve unique functionalities without increasing chip space. Here we report LET device characteristics and novel digital and analog applications, such as optical logic gates and optical amplification. Prototype CdSe-nanowire-based LETs show output and transfer characteristics resembling advanced FETs, e.g., on/off ratios up to ∼1.0 × 10 6 with a source-drain voltage of ∼1.43 V, gate-power of ∼260 nW, and a subthreshold swing of ∼0.3 nW/decade (excluding losses). Our work offers new electronic-optical integration strategies and electronic and optical computing approaches.