American Chemical Society (ACS)
ACS Energy Letters
,  volume 10 ,  issue 4 ,  pages 1911-1920

Lattice-Matched Ta3N5/Nb5N6 Interface Enables a Bulk Charge Separation Efficiency of Close to 100%

Yitong Liu 1, 2
, 
Zeyu Fan 1, 2, 3, 4
, 
Zhongyun Fan 1, 2
, 
Ronghua Li 1, 2
, 
Andraž Mavrič 5, 6
, 
Iztok Arčon 5, 6, 7, 8
, 
Iztok Arcon 6, 8
, 
Matjaž Valant 5, 6
, 
Gregor Kapun 9, 10, 11, 12
, 
Zhang Beibei 1, 2, 3, 4
, 
Bei-Bei Zhang 1, 2
, 
Chao Feng 1, 2
, 
Zemin Zhang 13, 14, 15, 16
, 
Tingxi Chen 1, 2, 3, 4
, 
Yan-Ning Zhang 1, 2, 3, 4, 17, 18
, 
Yanbo Li 1, 2, 3, 4, 17, 18
1
 
Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, Chengdu, China | 
2
 
3
 
Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences
4
 
5
 
6
 
7
 
Institute Jožef Stefan
8
 
Institute Jožef Stefan, Ljubljana, Slovenia | 
9
 
10
 
Center of Excellence on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology−Nanocenter
11
 
12
 
Center of Excellence on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology−Nanocenter, Ljubljana, Slovenia | 
13
 
School of Physical Science and Technology
14
 
15
 
School of Physical Science and Technology, Lanzhou, China | 
16
 
17
 
Key Laboratory of Quantum Physics and Photonic Quantum Information, Ministry of Education
18
 
Key Laboratory of Quantum Physics and Photonic Quantum Information, Ministry of Education, Chengdu, China | 
Publication type: Journal Article
Publication date: 2025-03-27
American Chemical Society (ACS)
scimago Q1
wos Q1
SJR: 6.799
CiteScore: 29.6
Impact factor: 18.2
ISSN: 23808195
Abstract
The interface between the semiconductor light absorber and the metal electrode is critical for facilitating the extraction of photogenerated charges in photoelectrodes. Achieving a lattice-matched semiconductor/electrode interface with low defect density is highly desirable but remains a challenge for Ta3N5 photoanodes. In this study, we synthesized niobium nitride thin film electrodes with controllable crystallographic phases to achieve a lattice-matched Ta3N5/Nb5N6 back contact. This results in an enhanced crystallinity of the Ta3N5 film and reduced interfacial defect density. Consequently, the photoanode with the lattice-matched back contact attains a record half-cell solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 4.1%, attributed to the bulk carrier separation efficiency of nearly 100%. This work highlights lattice-matching as an effective strategy to enhance the efficiency of thin film-based solar energy conversion devices.
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Liu Y. et al. Lattice-Matched Ta3N5/Nb5N6 Interface Enables a Bulk Charge Separation Efficiency of Close to 100% // ACS Energy Letters. 2025. Vol. 10. No. 4. pp. 1911-1920.
GOST all authors (up to 50) Copy
Liu Y. et al. Lattice-Matched Ta3N5/Nb5N6 Interface Enables a Bulk Charge Separation Efficiency of Close to 100% // ACS Energy Letters. 2025. Vol. 10. No. 4. pp. 1911-1920.
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TY - JOUR
DO - 10.1021/acsenergylett.5c00603
UR - https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsenergylett.5c00603
TI - Lattice-Matched Ta3N5/Nb5N6 Interface Enables a Bulk Charge Separation Efficiency of Close to 100%
T2 - ACS Energy Letters
AU - Liu, Yitong
AU - Fan, Zeyu
AU - Fan, Zhongyun
AU - Li, Ronghua
AU - Mavrič, Andraž
AU - Arčon, Iztok
AU - Arcon, Iztok
AU - Valant, Matjaž
AU - Kapun, Gregor
AU - Beibei, Zhang
AU - Zhang, Bei-Bei
AU - Feng, Chao
AU - Zhang, Zemin
AU - Chen, Tingxi
AU - Zhang, Yan-Ning
AU - Li, Yanbo
PY - 2025
DA - 2025/03/27
PB - American Chemical Society (ACS)
SP - 1911-1920
IS - 4
VL - 10
SN - 2380-8195
ER -
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@article{2025_Liu,
author = {Yitong Liu and Zeyu Fan and Zhongyun Fan and Ronghua Li and Andraž Mavrič and Iztok Arčon and Iztok Arcon and Matjaž Valant and Gregor Kapun and Zhang Beibei and Bei-Bei Zhang and Chao Feng and Zemin Zhang and Tingxi Chen and Yan-Ning Zhang and Yanbo Li and others},
title = {Lattice-Matched Ta3N5/Nb5N6 Interface Enables a Bulk Charge Separation Efficiency of Close to 100%},
journal = {ACS Energy Letters},
year = {2025},
volume = {10},
publisher = {American Chemical Society (ACS)},
month = {mar},
url = {https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsenergylett.5c00603},
number = {4},
pages = {1911--1920},
doi = {10.1021/acsenergylett.5c00603}
}
MLA
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Liu, Yitong, et al. “Lattice-Matched Ta3N5/Nb5N6 Interface Enables a Bulk Charge Separation Efficiency of Close to 100%.” ACS Energy Letters, vol. 10, no. 4, Mar. 2025, pp. 1911-1920. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsenergylett.5c00603.