{"database":"biostudies-literature","file_versions":[],"scores":null,"additional":{"submitter":["Doiron B"],"funding":["Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft","European Research Council","Solar Technologies go Hybrid","Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences","Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council","Thomas Young Centre"],"pagination":["30417-30426"],"full_dataset_link":["https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10316319"],"repository":["biostudies-literature"],"omics_type":["Unknown"],"volume":["15(25)"],"pubmed_abstract":["Understanding metal-semiconductor interfaces is critical to the advancement of photocatalysis and sub-bandgap solar energy harvesting where electrons in the metal can be excited by sub-bandgap photons and extracted into the semiconductor. In this work, we compare the electron extraction efficiency across Au/TiO<sub>2</sub> and titanium oxynitride (TiON)/TiO<sub>2-<i>x</i></sub> interfaces, where in the latter case the spontaneously forming oxide layer (TiO<sub>2-<i>x</i></sub>) creates a metal-semiconductor contact. Time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy is used to study the electron recombination rates in both cases. Unlike the nanosecond recombination lifetimes in Au/TiO<sub>2</sub>, we find a bottleneck in the electron relaxation in the TiON system, which we explain using a trap-mediated recombination model. Using this model, we investigate the tunability of the relaxation dynamics with oxygen content in the parent film. The optimized film (TiO<sub>0.5</sub>N<sub>0.5</sub>) exhibits the highest carrier extraction efficiency (<i>N</i><sub>FC</sub> ≈ 2.8 × 10<sup>19</sup> m<sup>-3</sup>), slowest trapping, and an appreciable hot electron population reaching the surface oxide (<i>N</i><sub>HE</sub> ≈ 1.6 × 10<sup>18</sup> m<sup>-3</sup>). Our results demonstrate the productive role oxygen can play in enhancing electron harvesting and prolonging electron lifetimes, providing an optimized metal-semiconductor interface using only the native oxide of titanium oxynitride."],"journal":["ACS applied materials & interfaces"],"pubmed_title":["Optimizing Hot Electron Harvesting at Planar Metal-Semiconductor Interfaces with Titanium Oxynitride Thin Films."],"pmcid":["PMC10316319"],"funding_grant_id":["EP/V001914/1","EP/L015277/1","TYC-101","EP/W012197/1","EP/W017075/1","EP/M013812/1","EP/N005244/1","EXC 2089/1  390776260","802989","EP/R00661X/1","EP/L000202"],"pubmed_authors":["Alford NM","Mihai A","Bower R","Cohen LF","Petrov P","Fearn S","Maier SA","Lischner J","Oulton RF","Huttenhofer L","Li Y","Dal Forno S","Cortes E","Doiron B"],"additional_accession":[]},"is_claimable":false,"name":"Optimizing Hot Electron Harvesting at Planar Metal-Semiconductor Interfaces with Titanium Oxynitride Thin Films.","description":"Understanding metal-semiconductor interfaces is critical to the advancement of photocatalysis and sub-bandgap solar energy harvesting where electrons in the metal can be excited by sub-bandgap photons and extracted into the semiconductor. In this work, we compare the electron extraction efficiency across Au/TiO<sub>2</sub> and titanium oxynitride (TiON)/TiO<sub>2-<i>x</i></sub> interfaces, where in the latter case the spontaneously forming oxide layer (TiO<sub>2-<i>x</i></sub>) creates a metal-semiconductor contact. Time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy is used to study the electron recombination rates in both cases. Unlike the nanosecond recombination lifetimes in Au/TiO<sub>2</sub>, we find a bottleneck in the electron relaxation in the TiON system, which we explain using a trap-mediated recombination model. Using this model, we investigate the tunability of the relaxation dynamics with oxygen content in the parent film. The optimized film (TiO<sub>0.5</sub>N<sub>0.5</sub>) exhibits the highest carrier extraction efficiency (<i>N</i><sub>FC</sub> ≈ 2.8 × 10<sup>19</sup> m<sup>-3</sup>), slowest trapping, and an appreciable hot electron population reaching the surface oxide (<i>N</i><sub>HE</sub> ≈ 1.6 × 10<sup>18</sup> m<sup>-3</sup>). Our results demonstrate the productive role oxygen can play in enhancing electron harvesting and prolonging electron lifetimes, providing an optimized metal-semiconductor interface using only the native oxide of titanium oxynitride.","dates":{"release":"2023-01-01T00:00:00Z","publication":"2023 Jun","modification":"2025-04-04T14:08:31.43Z","creation":"2025-04-04T14:08:31.43Z"},"accession":"S-EPMC10316319","cross_references":{"pubmed":["37307410"],"doi":["10.1021/acsami.3c02812"]}}