Photoelectrochemical hydrogen production from solar energy and water offers a clean and sustainable fuel option for the future. Planar III/V material systems have shown the highest efficiencies, but are expensive. By moving to the nanowire regime the demand on material quantity is reduced, and new materials can be uncovered, such as wurtzite gallium phosphide, featuring a direct bandgap. This is one of the few materials combining large solar light absorption and (close to) ideal band-edge positions for full water splitting. Here we report the photoelectrochemical reduction of water, on a p-type wurtzite gallium phosphide nanowire photocathode. By modifying geometry to reduce electrical resistance and enhance optical absorption, and modifying the surface with a multistep platinum deposition, high current densities and open circuit potentials were achieved. Our results demonstrate the capabilities of this material, even when used in such low quantities, as in nanowires.
Lighting applications require directional and polarization control of the emitted light, which is currently achieved by bulky optical components such as lenses, parabolic mirrors, and polarizers. Ideally, this control would be achieved without any external optics, but at the nanoscale, during the generation of light. Semiconductor nanowires are promising candidates for lighting devices due to their efficient light outcoupling and synthesis flexibility. In this work, we demonstrate a precise control of both the directionality and the polarization of the nanowire array emission by changing the nanowire diameter. We change the angular emission pattern from a large-angle doughnut shape to a narrow-angle beaming along the nanowire axis. In addition, we tune the polarization from unpolarized to either p- or s-polarized. Both the far-field emission pattern and its polarization are controlled by the number and type of guided or leaky modes supported by the nanowire, which are determined by the nanowire diameter.
We measure the polarization-resolved angular emission distribution from thin (diameter ∼110 nm) and thick (diameter ∼180 nm) GaAs nanowires with cathodoluminescence polarimetry. The nanowires, which are horizontally resting on a thin carbon film, are excited by a 5 keV electron beam and emit bandgap luminescence at a central wavelength of 870 nm. The emission can couple to different waveguide modes that propagate along the wire. These waveguide modes are dependent on the wire diameter and determine the directionality and polarization of the emission. Although each measured nanowire can support different modes, the polarized emission is dominated by the 1 TM01 waveguide mode in all cases, independently of wire diameter. When exciting the nanowires away from the center, close to the end facets, the thin and thick wires exhibit an opposite directional emission. The emission from thin nanowires is dominated by a leaky TM01 mode that leads to emission in the opposite direction to the excitation position. For the thick wires, however, the TM01 mode is guided but also lossy due to absorption in the substrate. In that case, the wires emit towards the same direction as the excitation position. We show that the measurements agree well with both a simple 1D current model and numerical simulations. The high spatial resolution of angular and polarization resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy provides detailed insight into the nanoscale emission and propagation of light in semiconductor nanowires.
Abstract. Verification problems for finite-and infinite-state processes, like model checking and equivalence checking, can effectively be encoded in Parameterised Boolean Equation Systems (PBESs). Solving the PBES solves the encoded problem. The decidability of solving a PBES depends on the data sorts that occur in the PBES. We describe a manipulation for transforming a given PBES to a simpler PBES that may admit solution methods that are not applicable to the original one. Depending on whether the data sorts occurring in the PBES are finite or countable, the resulting PBES can be a Boolean Equation System (BES) or an Infinite Boolean Equation System (IBES). Computing the solution to a BES is decidable. Computing the global solution to an IBES is still undecidable, but for partial solutions (which suffices for e.g. local model checking), effective tooling is possible. We give examples that illustrate the efficacy of our techniques.
The emission from nanowires can couple to waveguide modes supported by the nanowire geometry, thus governing the far-field angular pattern. To investigate the geometry-induced coupling of the emission to waveguide modes, we acquire Fourier microscopy images of the photoluminescence of nanowires with diameters ranging from 143 to 208 nm. From the investigated diameter range, we conclude that a few nanometers difference in diameter can abruptly change the coupling of the emission to a specific mode. Moreover, we observe a diameter-dependent width of the Gaussian-shaped angular pattern in the far-field emission. This dependence is understood in terms of interference of the guided modes, which emit at the end facets of the nanowire. Our results are important for the design of quantum emitters, solid state lighting, and photovoltaic devices based on nanowires.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.