title: Atomic-Scale Origin of Long-Term Stability and High Performance of p-GaN Nanowire Arrays for Photocatalytic Overall Pure Water Splitting.
abstract: The atomic-scale origin of the unusually high performance and long-term stability of wurtzite p-GaN oriented nanowire arrays is revealed. Nitrogen termination of both the polar (0001¯) top face and the nonpolar (101¯0) side faces of the nanowires is essential for long-term stability and high efficiency. Such a distinct atomic configuration ensures not only stability against (photo) oxidation in air and in water/electrolyte but, as importantly, also provides the necessary overall reverse crystal polarization needed for efficient hole extraction in p-GaN.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A0E9, Canada.
authors.forename: Md Golam
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kibria
authors.affiliation: Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Ruimin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Wanli
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Idris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Boukahil
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A2T8, Canada.|Department of Physics and Beijing Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Functional Materials and Micro-Nano Devices, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xianghua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A0E9, Canada.
authors.forename: Faqrul Alam
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
authors.affiliation: Science des Matériaux, IREQ, Hydro-Québec, Varennes, QC, J3×1S1, Canada.
authors.forename: Michel L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Trudeau
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Beijing Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Functional Materials and Micro-Nano Devices, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 100872, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A2T8, Canada.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA. fhimpsel@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Himpsel
authors.affiliation: International Research Center for Renewable Energy, School of Energy & Power Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, P. R. China. lionelv@xjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vayssieres
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A0E9, Canada. zetian.mi@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Zetian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mi
keywords: N-terminated surfaces; X-ray spectroscopy; artificial photosynthesis; metal nitride; polarization dependence; wurtzite structure