Fermi level pinning of p-type semiconducting indium phosphide contacting liquid electrolyte solutions: rationale for efficient photoelectrochemical energy conversion
Abstract
A recent report concerning p-type InP-based photoelectrochemical cells prompts us to give this preliminary account of our work on p-type InP/liquid interfaces. We report data that show that p-type InP gives a photovoltage Eᵥ, of ~0.8 V with respect to solution redox couples where the formal potential of the redox couple, E°, can vary over a potential range that significantly exceeds the magnitude of the band gap, E_g, of InP. Indeed, for E°'s more negative than ~ -0.40 V vs. SCE in CH₃CN/0.1 M n-Bu₄NClO₄, we find essentially a constant value for Eᵥ. When Eᵥ is independent of E° for a semiconductor /liquid interface the semiconductor is said to be "Fermi level pinned". One intriguing finding is that the ratio Eᵥ/Eg_ for p-type InP is the highest reported thus far for a semiconductor/liquid interface.
Additional Information
© 1981 American Chemical Society. We thank the U.S. Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, for support of this research. M.S.W. acknowledges support as a Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Grant recipient, 1975-1980, and N.S.L. as a Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Fellow. We thank Dr. Jerry Iseler of the M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratories for donating InP samples.Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 120837
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20230413-768654000.10
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation
- Fannie and John Hertz Foundation
- Created
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2023-04-19Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2023-04-19Created from EPrint's last_modified field