Abstract
The light absorption and photo-generation rate under different periods, filling factors (FF), hole depth and inclination angles are studied. The NHA exhibits a larger light absorption compared with the planar film, which is about 99.99973%. Based on the three-dimensional continuity equation, the quantum efficiency (QE) and collection efficiency (CE) of the field-assisted GaN NHA and the graded compositional AlGaN NHA are calculated. The QE and CE of the GaN NHA with a period of 200 nm, a filling factor of 0.05, an inclined angle of 10°, and a field intensity of 2 V/μm are 62.7% and 62.6%, respectively. In addition, the graded compositional AlGaN structure has a more improved effect on the vertical NHA. Compared with the uniform GaN NHA, the electron collection of AlGaN NHA ratio is increased by 2.4 times. The design principles proposed in this work provide guidance to reasonable parameters for the application of NHA photocathodes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
X.H. Wang, B.K. Chang, Y.J. Du, J.L. Qiao, Quantum efficiency of GaN photocathode under different illumination. Appl. Phys. Lett. 99, 042102 (2011)
J.L. Qiao, B.K. Chang, Y.S. Qian, X.Q. Du, Y.J. Zhang, P. Gao, X.H. Wang, X.Y. Guo, J. Niu, Y.T. Gao, Study of spectral response characteristics of negative electron affinity GaN photocathode. Acta Phys. Sin. 59, 3577–3582 (2010)
S. Zhao, Q. Mo, W. Cai, H. Wang, Z. Zang, Inorganic lead-free cesium copper chlorine nanocrystal for highly efficient and stable warm white light-emitting diodes. Photon. Res. 9(2), 187–192 (2021)
H. Guan, S. Zhao, H. Wang, D. Yan, M. Wang, Z. Zang, Room temperature synthesis of stable single silica-coated CsPbBr 3 quantum dots combining tunable red emission of Ag–In–Zn–S for High-CRI white light-emitting diodes. Nano Energy 67, 104279 (2020)
D. Yan, S. Zhao, H. Wang, Z. Zang, Ultrapure and highly efficient green light emitting devices based on ligand-modified CsPbBr 3 quantum dots. Photon. Res. 8(7), 1086–1092 (2020)
Z.P. Xu, H.C. Huangfu, L. He, J.Z. Wang, D. Yang, J.W. Guo, H.Y. Wang, Light-trapping properties of the Si inclined nanowire arrays. Opt. Commun. 382, 332–336 (2017)
Z.P. Xu, H.C. Huangfu, X.W. Li, H.L. Qiao, W.C. Guo, J.W. Guo, H.Y. Wang, Role of nanocone and nanohemisphere arrays in improving light trapping of thin film solar cells. Opt. Commun. 377, 104–109 (2016)
W.R. Wei, M.L. Tsai, S.T. Ho, S.H. Tai, C.R. Ho, S.H. Tsai, C.W. Liu, R.J. Chung, J.H. He, Above-11%-efficiency organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells with omnidirectional harvesting characteristics by employing hierarchical photon-trapping structures. Nano Lett. 13(8), 3658–3663 (2013)
Y.F. Makableh, M. Al-Fandi, M. Khasawneh, C.J. Tavares, Comprehensive design analysis of ZnO anti-reflection nanostructures for Si solar cells. Superlattices Microstruct. 124, 1–9 (2018)
S.E. Han, G. Chen, Optical absorption enhancement in silicon nanohole arrays for solar photovoltaics. Nano Lett. 10(3), 1012–1015 (2010)
Z. Zang, X. Zeng, J. Du, M. Wang, X. Tang, Femtosecond laser direct writing of microholes on roughened ZnO for output power enhancement of InGaN light-emitting diodes. Opt. Lett. 41(15), 3463–3466 (2016)
Q.G. Du, C.H. Kam, H.V. Demir, H.Y. Yu, X.W. Sun, Enhanced optical absorption in nanopatterned silicon thin films with a nano-cone-hole structure for photovoltaic applications. Opt. Lett. 36(9), 1713–1715 (2011)
T.G. Chen, P.C. Yu, S.W. Chen, F.Y. Chang, B.Y. Huang, Y.C. Cheng, J.C. Hsiao, C.K. Li, Y.R. Wu, Characteristics of large-scale nanohole arrays for thin-silicon photovoltaics. Prog. Photovolt. 22(4), 452–461 (2014)
L. Hong, Rusli, X.C. Wang, H.Y. Zheng, H. Wang, H.Y. Yu, Design guidelines for Si(111) inclined nanohole arrays in thin-film solar cells. IEEE Trans. Nanotechnol. 13(3), 431–436 (2014)
C. Deng, X.Y. Tan, L.H. Jiang, Y.T. Tu, M. Ye, Y.S. Yi, Efficient light trapping in silicon inclined nanohole arrays for photovoltaic applications. Opt. Commun. 407, 199–203 (2018)
K.Q. Peng, X. Wang, L. Li, X.L. Wu, S.T. Lee, High-performance silicon nanohole solar cells. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 132(20), 6872 (2010)
C. Zhang, X.F. Li, A.X. Shang, S.L. Wu, Y.H. Zhan, Z.H. Yang, Design of dual-diameter nanoholes for efficient solar-light harvesting. Nanoscale Res. Lett. 9, 481 (2014)
W. Ding, D.Y. Xia, Q. Li, Y.P. Huang, M. Zheng, L.Z. Zhang, J. Wang, Y. Zhang, M.F. Guo, S. Liu, X.L. Su, F. Yun, X. Hou, Photonic crystal based on anti-reflection structure for GaN/InGaN heterojunction solar cells, in Proceedings of the SPIE. International Conference on Photonics and Optical Engineering, 9449:94491L (2015)
L. Han, H.P. Zhao, Surface antireflection properties of GaN nanostructures with various effective refractive index profiles. Opt. Express 22, 031907 (2014)
J. Winnerl, M. Kraut, R. Hudeczek, M. Stutzmann, GaN nanowire arrays for photocatalytic applications II: influence of a dielectric shell and liquid environments. Appl. Phys. B 125, 77 (2019)
J.J. Zou, B.K. Chang, Gradient-doping negative electron affinity GaAs photocathodes. Opt. Eng. 45(5), (2006)
X.Q. Fu, Y.B. Ai, Quantum efficiency dependence on built-in electric fields in exponential-doped and graded-doped gallium arsenide photocathodes. Optik 123(20), 1888–1890 (2012)
M.Z. Yang, J. Guo, X.Q. Fu, Z.H. Liu, Quantum efficiency of heterostructured AlN/AlxGa1-xN photocathodes with graded bandgap emission layer. J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Electron. 29(14), 12443–12450 (2018)
F.F. Lu, L. Liu, J. Tian, Comparison of quantum and collection efficiency of field-assisted uniform-doping and exponential-doping GaN nanowire cathodes. Int. J. Energy Res. 44(3), 1751–1760 (2020)
L. Liu, F.F. Lu, S.H. Xia, Y. Diao, J. Tian, Improved electron capture capability of field-assisted exponential-doping GaN nanowire array photocathode. J. Mater. Sci. Technol. 42, 54–62 (2020)
L. Liu, S.H. Xia, Y. Diao, F.F. Lu, J. Tian, Enhancement of photoemission capability and electron collection efficiency of field-assisted GaN nanowire array photocathode. Nanotechnology 31, (2020)
Y. Diao, L. Liu, S.H. Xia, Photon-enhanced thermionic emission solar energy converters with GaAs wire array cathode under external electric field. Appl. Nanosci. 10(3), 807–817 (2020)
C. Miao, Y. Honda, M. Yamaguchi, H. Amano, GaN overgrowth on thermally etched nanoporous GaN template. Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 52, 08JB03 (2013)
P.M. Coulon, P. Feng, B. Damilano, S. Vézian, T. Wang, P.A. Shields, Influence of the reactor environment on the selective area thermal etching of GaN nanohole arrays. Sci. Rep. 10, 5642 (2020)
H.M. Guo, L. Wen, X.H. Li, Z.F. Zhao, Y.Q. Wang, Analysis of optical absorption in GaAs nanowire arrays. Nanoscale Res. Lett. 6, 617 (2011)
L. Liu, Y. Diao, S.H. Xia, High-performance GaAs nanowire cathode for photon-enhanced thermionic emission solar converters. J. Mater. Sci. 54, 5605–5614 (2019)
J. Zou, B. Chang, H. Chen, L. Liu, Variation of quantum-yield curves for GaAs photocathodes under illumination. J. Appl. Phys. 101, (2007)
C. Feng, Y.J. Zhang, Y.S. Qian, B.K. Chang, F. Shi, G.C. Jiao, J.J. Zou, Photoemission from advanced heterostructured AlxGa1-xAs/GaAs photocathodes under multilevel built-in electric field. Opt. Express 23(15), 19478–19488 (2015)
Y. Liu, Q.X. Li, L.Y. Wan, B. Kucukgok, E. Ghafari, I.T. Ferguson, X. Zhang, S.C. Wang, Z.C. Feng, N. Lu, Composition and temperature dependent optical properties of AlxGa1-xN alloy by spectroscopic ellipsometry. Appl. Surf. Sci. 421(BSI), 389–396 (2017)
P. Reddy, I. Bryan, Z. Bryan et al., Charge neutrality levels, barrier heights, and band offsets at polar AlGaN. Appl. Phys. Lett. 107, 091603 (2015)
J. Li, T.N. Oder, M.L. Nakarmi, J.Y. Lin, H.X. Jiang, Optical and electrical properties of Mg-doped p-type AlxGa1-xN. Appl. Phys. Lett. 80(7), 1210–1212 (2002)
J.W. Cooper, Multiple corrections to the angular distribution of photoelectrons at low energies. Phys. Rev. A 42(11), 6942–6945 (1990)
K.A. Hanold, M.C. Garner, R.E. Continetti, Photoelectron-photofragment angular correlation and energy partitioning in dissociative photodetachment. Phys. Rev. Lett. 77(16), 3335–3338 (1996)
X. Fang, C.Y. Zhao, H. Bao, Radiative behaviors of crystalline silicon nanowire and nanohole arrays for photovoltaic applications. J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transf. 133, 579–588 (2014)
H. Cheng, F. Shi, Z. Yao, L. Yan, S. Yang, Radiation gain of AlGaN photocathode solar blind UV image intensifier. Infrared Technol. 42(8), 709–714 (2020)
Funding
This study was funded by Qing Lan Project of Jiangsu Province-China (Grant Number 2017-AD41779) and the Six Talent Peaks Project in Jiangsu Province-China (Grant Number 2015-XCL-008).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests in either personal or financial aspects.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Liu, L., Lu, F., Tian, J. et al. Photo-absorption and electron collection of field-assisted GaN nanohole array photocathode. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 32, 12564–12577 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-05894-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-021-05894-7