February

Picture of the Month - February 2018

Here you see current insights into the research of the LaMa groups. A collection of the former pictures can be found in the Gallery.

Wide bandgap III-V nanowires for photoelectrochemical applications

GaN based nanowire structures are widely discussed for applications such as photocatalytic water splitting or pH-sensing. Our project was to investigate such structures by electrical bias dependent photoluminescence, photocurrent and electron paramagnetic resonance spin trapping experiments. For InGaN nanowires the results are in agreement to an established band bending model while for GaN nanowires oxidation and etching processes have to be taken into account. For GaNP the bias dependence of the carrier transfer across the semiconductor interface to the electrolyte is not reflected in the photoluminescence response, thus this material system suitable for water splitting purposes. InGaN and GaN nanowires are in addition good candidates for sensing applications.

Reference: J.M. Philipps, J. E. Stehr, D. M.Hofmann, I. A. Buyanova, and M. Eickhoff, Applied Physics Letters 110, 222101 (2017), doi: 10.1063/1.4984277

This picture was submitted by Prof. Dr. Detlev Hofmann.