Nitride semiconductor photo-electrodes for solar hydrogen production

Photo-electro-chemical water splitting is a clean way of hydrogen production. Although III-nitride semiconductors have potentially favorable properties as water splitting photo-electrodes, they have several limitations for practical use. In this talk, the concept of a polarization-engineered nitride photocathode for water splitting is reviewed, along with fundamental characterization of nitride semiconductors as photo-electrodes. By incorporating multiple junctions, operation current densities up to 10 mA/cm² under 1 sun are expected.