Electric dipole of InN/InGaN quantum dots and holes and giant surface photovoltage directly measured by Kelvin probe force microscopy

Yinping Qian; Peng Wang; Lujia Rao; Changkun Song; Hongjie Yin; Xingyu Wang; Guofu Zhou; Richard Nötzel

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-62820-3

Electric dipole of InN/InGaN quantum dots and holes and giant surface photovoltage directly measured by Kelvin probe force microscopy

Sci Rep. 2020 Apr 3;10(1):5930. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-62820-3.

Authors

Yinping Qian¹, Peng Wang^{1

2}, Lujia Rao¹, Changkun Song¹, Hongjie Yin¹, Xingyu Wang¹, Guofu Zhou^{3

4

5}, Richard Nötzel^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Information Materials and Technology, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, P. R. China.
² National Center for International Research on Green Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, P. R. China.
³ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Information Materials and Technology, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, P. R. China. guofu.zhou@m.scnu.edu.cn.
⁴ National Center for International Research on Green Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, P. R. China. guofu.zhou@m.scnu.edu.cn.
⁵ Academy of Shenzhen Guohua Optoelectronics, Shenzhen, 518110, P. R. China. guofu.zhou@m.scnu.edu.cn.
⁶ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Information Materials and Technology, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, P. R. China. noetzel500@yahoo.com.
⁷ National Center for International Research on Green Optoelectronics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510006, P. R. China. noetzel500@yahoo.com.

Abstract

We directly measure the electric dipole of InN quantum dots (QDs) grown on In-rich InGaN layers by Kelvin probe force microscopy. This significantly advances the understanding of the superior catalytic performance of InN/InGaN QDs in ion- and biosensing and in photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation by water splitting and the understanding of the important third-generation InGaN semiconductor surface in general. The positive surface photovoltage (SPV) gives an outward QD dipole with dipole potential of the order of 150 mV, in agreement with previous calculations. After HCl-etching, to complement the determination of the electric dipole, a giant negative SPV of -2.4 V, significantly larger than the InGaN bandgap energy, is discovered. This giant SPV is assigned to a large inward electric dipole, associated with the appearance of holes, matching the original QD lateral size and density. Such surprising result points towards unique photovoltaic effects and photosensitivity.