GaN nanowires (NWs) doped with Mg as a p-type impurity were grown on Si(111) substrates by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. In a systematic series of experiments, the amount of Mg supplied during NW growth was varied. The incorporation of Mg into the NWs was confirmed by the observation of donor-acceptor pairs and acceptor-bound excitons in low-temperature photoluminescence spectroscopy. Quantitative information about the Mg concentrations was deduced from Raman scattering by local vibrational modes related to Mg. In order to study the type and density of charge carriers present in the NWs, we employed two photoelectrochemical techniques, open-circuit potential and Mott-Schottky measurements. Both methods showed the expected transition from n-type to p-type conductivity with increasing Mg doping level, and the latter characterization technique allowed us to quantify the charge carrier concentration. Beyond the quantitative information obtained for Mg doping of GaN NWs, our systematic and comprehensive investigation demonstrates the benefit of photoelectrochemical methods for the analysis of doping in semiconductor NWs in general.

We investigated the photoelectrochemical properties of both n- and p-type (In,Ga)N nanowires (NWs) for water splitting by in situ electrochemical mass spectroscopy (EMS). All NWs were prepared by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Under illumination, the n-(In,Ga)N NWs exhibited an anodic photocurrent, however, no O2 but only N2 evolution was detected by EMS, indicating that the photocurrent was related to photocorrosion rather than water oxidation. In contrast, the p-(In,Ga)N NWs showed a cathodic photocurrent under illumination which was correlated with the evolution of H2. After photodeposition of Pt on such NWs, the photocurrent density was significantly enhanced to 5 mA/cm(2) at a potential of -0.5 V/NHE under visible light irradiation of ∼40 mW/cm(2). Also, incident photon-to-current conversion efficiencies of around 40% were obtained at -0.45 V/NHE across the entire visible spectral region. The stability of the NW photocathodes for at least 60 min was verified by EMS. These results suggest that p-(In,Ga)N NWs are a promising basis for solar hydrogen production.

Published by the AIP PublishingArticles you may be interested in Raman spectra investigation of InAlGaN quaternary alloys grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We grew a heterojunction combination of Mg-doped Ga-rich InGaN cladding and In-rich InGaN active layers on top of Si-doped GaN nanocolumns with a diameter of 300 nm; the uniformly arranged and dislocation-free GaN nanocolumns contributed to the high crystalline quality of In-rich InGaN, which led to the longest-wavelength (1.46 m) operation of InGaN light emitting diodes. The In content of the active layer estimated from the emission peak wavelength was 0.86. The selected-area diffraction analysis in the transmission electron microscope for the InGaN layers evinced that the In contents of the Ga-rich and In-rich InGaN layers were approximately 0.3 and 0.85, respectively.

Cyclic voltammetry measurements are carried out in neutral phosphate-buffered electrolyte using n-type Gapolar GaN thin-film photoelectrodes with and without cobalt phosphate (Co-Pi) modification. Without Co-Pi, the variation of the photocurrent with the bias potential exhibits a two-step behavior and under chopped illumination spikes occur at low bias potential. Thus in this regime surface recombination is dominant. Co-Pi modification suppresses surface recombination and significantly increases the photocurrent, especially for low bias potentials. At the same time, stability tests reveal that Co-Pi does not protect GaN against photocorrosion. Experiments using H 2 O 2 imply that this photocorrosion is a reductive process and probably related to the presence of charged surface defects.