Nanoscale Digital Devices Based on the Photoelectrochemical Photocurrent Switching Effect: Preparation, Properties and Applications

Abstract

New materials and new phenomena which can be used for information processing always inspire great enthusiasm. On the other hand, silicon is still the main workhorse of modern electronics. Production of bulk quantities of ultrapure silicon is relatively cheap and the processing technologies are extremely sophisticated. Introduction of new materials and phenomena, on the other hand, requires an enormous amount of hard experimental and theoretical work. The photoelectrochemical photocurrent switching effect (PEPS) is one of the processes that, in principle, can evolve into new information processing technology. This review presents the effect itself, along with preparation of appropriate semiconducting materials, physical principles of semiconductor–molecule interactions, and finally some prototypical constructions of logic devices based on the PEPS effect.

The Voltammetric Analysis of Selenium Electrodeposition from H2SeO3 Solution on Gold Electrode

“…Among others, the electrochemistry of selenium is being thoroughly investigated and the papers concerned with this topic increasingly appeared in the literature [4] (and references therein). This is a consequence of the fact that the electrochemistry gives many possibilities of producing selenium [5], recover it from wastes [6], analyze its concentration in solutions [7] and carrying out synthesis of various materials containing this element e. g. semiconductors, nanoparticles and quantum dots based on polychalcogenides [2,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Potential uses of such materials are highly desirable in technological applications related with optoelectronics, advanced thin film solar cells, IR detectors, solid state lasers, multipurpose sensors or thermoelectric materials [1,3,4].…”

Device Architecture for Visible and Near-Infrared Photodetectors Based on Two-Dimensional SnSe2 and MoS2: A Review

“…Anodic photocurrents require that an electron donor is easily oxidized by photo-generated holes and that the electrode potential enables electron transfer from the conduction band of the semiconductor to the electrode as illustrated in Figure 3 a. Cathodic photocurrents occur when reduction of the electron acceptor by electrons from the conduction band and holes is more efficient than the mechanisms responsible for anodic photocurrent generation as illustrated in Figure 3 b. The evolution of anodic photocurrents follows the kinetics presented in Figure 3 c. The kinetics of cathodic photocurrent evolution is presented in Figure 3 d [ 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 ].…”

“…The mechanism of photocurrent switching in a photo-electrochemical device is illustrated in Figure 3 a,b and depends on various parameters which involve the redox properties of the semiconductor, availability of donors and acceptors in the electrolyte, applied potentials and energy of incident photons [ 60 ]. Upon photoexcitation of the semiconductor with energy greater than the band gap, a photocurrent is generated.…”

“…A/A* − and D* + /D are acceptor and donor levels. ( a – c ) are adapted with permission from reference [ 60 ].…”

Electrowinning Of Tellurium From Acidic Solutions

“…The techniques are widely applied in an analysis of the kinetics and mechanism of electrode reactions. The detailed analysis of the phenomena taking place during the process of electrodeposition by the electroanalytical techniques enable to achieving thin metallic [5][6][7][8][9] and alloy films [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] or semiconductor [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] layers. Unlike many popular techniques, the electrodeposition enable synthesis of thin layers in the nanometric size range and of strictly controlled morphology as a result of, so called, underpotential deposition (UPD) [36,37].…”