Ag Nanowire-Plasmonic-Assisted Charge Separation in Hybrid Heterojunctions of Ppy-PEDOT:PSS/GaN Nanorods for Enhanced UV Photodetection.

The surface states, poor carrier life, and other native defects in GaN nanorods (NRs) limit their utilization in high-speed and large-gain ultraviolet (UV) photodetection applications. Making a hybrid structure is one of the finest strategies to overcome such impediments. In this work, a polypyrrole (Ppy)-poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)/GaN NRs hybrid structure is introduced for self-powered UV photodetection applications. This hybrid structure yields high photodetection performance, while pristine GaN NRs showed negligible photodetection properties. The ability of the photodetector is further boosted by functionalizing the hybrid structure with Ag nanowires (NWs). The Ag NWs-functionalized hybrid structure exhibited a responsivity of 3.1 × 103 (A/W), detectivity of 3.19 × 1014 Jones, and external quantum efficiency of 1.06 × 106 (%) under a UV illumination of λ = 382 nm. This high photoresponse is due to the huge photon absorption rising from the localized surface plasmonic effect of a Ag NWs network. Also, the Ag NWs significantly improved the rising and falling times, which were noted to be 0.20 and 0.21 s, respectively. The model band diagram was proposed with the assistance of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to explore the origin of the superior performance of the Ag NWs-decorated Ppy-PEDOT:PSS/GaN NRs photodetector. The proposed hybrid structure seems to be a promising candidate for the development of high-performance UV photodetectors.

Hydrogen passivation: a proficient strategy to enhance the optical and photoelectrochemical performance of InGaN/GaN single-quantum-well nanorods.

Recently, III-nitride semiconductor nanostructures, especially InGaN/GaN quantum well nanorods (NRs), have been established as a promising material of choice for nanoscale optoelectronics and photoelectrochemical (PEC) water-splitting applications. Due to the large number of surface states, III-nitride NRs suffer from low quantum efficiency. Therefore, control of the surface states is necessary to improve device performance in real-time applications. In this work, we investigated the effect of hydrogen plasma treatment on the optical properties of InGaN/GaN single-quantum-well (SQW) NRs. The low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) studies revealed that yellow and green emissions overlapped and the yellow band is more dominant in the pristine InGaN/GaN SQW NRs. However, the emission corresponding to yellow luminescence was strongly suppressed and the green emission is more intensified in hydrogenated InGaN/GaN SQW NRs. Furthermore, the time-resolved PL spectroscopy studies revealed that the carrier lifetimes of hydrogenated InGaN/GaN SQW NRs are relatively short compared to the pristine InGaN/GaN SQW, indicating the effective reduction of non-radiative centers. From the PEC measurement, the photocurrent density of hydrogenated InGaN/GaN SQW NRs in the H2SO4 solution is found to be 5 mA cm-2 at -0.48 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode, which is 3.5-fold larger than that of pristine ones. These findings shed new light on the significance of surface treatment on the optical properties and thus nanostructured photoelectrodes for PEC applications.

Hydrogenation-produced In2O3/InN core-shell nanorod and its effect on NO2 gas sensing behavior.

In this work, for the first time, we have made InN/In2O3 core-shell heterostructure by hydrogen plasma treatment. InN nanorods (NRs) were grown by using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy, and hydrogen plasma treatment was performed by using reactive ion etching at room temperature. From x-ray photoemission spectroscopy studies, it was observed that the bonding partner of In changes from N to O and N 1s completely disappeared in the hydrogenated InN NRs. Furthermore, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed the formation of InN/In2O3 core-shell NRs by hydrogenation plasma treatment. The resistance of pristine InN NRs was decreased in NO2 ambient. Interestingly, the resistance of the InN/In2O3 core-shell was increased while introducing NO2 gas. InN NR surface exhibits downward band bending due to the electron accumulation, in NO2 ambient, and the surface band bending was decreased due to the increase in the bulk conduction channel. This reversed gas sensing behavior in InN/In2O3 core-shell NRs was attributed to the increase in depletion layer while reducing the conduction channel width by the absorption of NO2. The InN/In2O3 coreshell NRs exhibited a response of 22.43% at 50 °C, which was 5.11 times higher than that of pristine InN NRs.

A novel low-temperature resistive NO gas sensor based on InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well-embedded p-i-n GaN nanorods.

In gas sensors, metal oxide semiconductors have been considered as favorable resistive-type toxic gas sensing materials. However, the higher temperature operation of metal oxides becomes a barrier for their wide range of applications in explosive and flammable gas environments. In this regard, great efforts have been devoted to reducing the operating temperature of the sensor. We demonstrated a chemical resistor-type NO gas sensor based on p-i-n GaN nanorods (NRs) consisting of InGaN/GaN multi-quantum wells (MQW). The sensor exhibited superior NO gas sensing performance to p-type GaN NRs. Furthermore, it also showed a remarkably improved response and fast recovery under UV irradiation (λ = 367 nm) of different UV intensities (7 to 20 mw cm-2) under reverse bias. The sensing performance of MQW-embedded p-i-n GaN NRs was enhanced with the boosted response by 4-fold at 35 °C under UV irradiation. The significant decrease in the resistance of the sensor under UV irradiation was mainly due to the extraction of photo-generated carriers under reverse bias, which can enhance the ionization of oxygen molecules. In addition, the effect of relative humidity (30%-60%) on the gas sensing performance was also manifested in this study. The selectivity of the sensor was determined by using other gases (NO, NO2, O2, NH3, H2S, CO, and H2), which exhibited a low response towards all tested gases other than NO. The experimental results demonstrated that p-i-n GaN NRs with InGaN/GaN MQW is a promising material for the detection of NO gas. Specific emphasis was laid on the enhanced response of p-i-n GaN NRs in reverse bias under UV irradiation.

A study of the red-shift of a neutral donor bound exciton in GaN nanorods by hydrogenation.

In this paper we account for the physics behind the exciton peak shift in GaN nanorods (NRs) due to hydrogenation. GaN NRs were selectively grown on a patterned Ti/Si(111) substrate using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy, and the effect of hydrogenation on their optical properties was investigated in detail using low-temperature photoluminescence measurements. Due to hydrogenation, the emissions corresponding to the donor-acceptor pair and yellow luminescence in GaN NRs were strongly suppressed, while the emission corresponding to the neutral to donor bound exciton (D0X) exhibited red-shift. Thermal annealing of hydrogenated GaN NRs demonstrated the recovery of the D0X and deep level emission. To determine the nature of the D0X peak shift due to hydrogenation, comparative studies were carried out on various diameters of GaN NRs, which can be controlled by different growth conditions and wet-etching times. Our experimental results reveal that the D0X shift depends on the diameter of the GaN NRs after hydrogenation. The results clearly demonstrate that the hydrogenation leads to band bending of GaN NRs as compensated by hydrogen ions, which causes a red-shift in the D0X emission.

Hydrogen Generation using non-polar coaxial InGaN/GaN Multiple Quantum Well Structure Formed on Hollow n-GaN Nanowires.

This article demonstrates for the first time to the best of our knowledge, the merits of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown on hollow n-GaN nanowires (NWs) as a plausible alternative for stable photoelectrochemical water splitting and efficient hydrogen generation. These hollow nanowires are achieved by a growth method rather not by conventional etching process. Therefore this approach becomes simplistic yet most effective. We believe relatively low Ga flux during the selective area growth (SAG) aids the hollow nanowire to grow. To compare the optoelectronic properties, simultaneously solid nanowires are also studied. In this present communication, we exhibit that lower thermal conductivity of hollow n-GaN NWs affects the material quality of InGaN/GaN MQWs by limiting In diffusion. As a result of this improvement in material quality and structural properties, photocurrent and photosensitivity are enhanced compared to the structures grown on solid n-GaN NWs. An incident photon-to-current efficiency (IPCE) of around ~33.3% is recorded at 365 nm wavelength for hollow NWs. We believe that multiple reflections of incident light inside the hollow n-GaN NWs assists in producing a larger amount of electron hole pairs in the active region. As a result the rate of hydrogen generation is also increased.