The interest on application of metal oxides semiconductors in photocatalysis and in photoelectrochemical devices has constantly increased. The different fields in which metal oxide-based semiconductors are applied include environmental remediation, photovoltaics, self-cleaning surfaces and hydrogen production. In the present review, the recent advances on synthesis and characterization of metal...

These informal lecture notes describe the progress in semiconductor spintronics in a historic perspective as well as in a comparison to achievements of spintronics of ferromagnetic metals. After outlining motivations behind spintronic research, selected results of investigations on three groups of materials are presented. These include non-magnetic semiconductors, hybrid structures involving se...

Relativistic band theoretical calculations reveal that intrinsic spin Hall conductivity in hole-doped archetypical semiconductors Ge, GaAs, and AlAs is large [approximately 100(planck/e)(Omega cm)(-1)], showing the possibility of a spin Hall effect beyond the four-band Luttinger Hamiltonian. The calculated orbital-angular-momentum (orbital) Hall conductivity is one order of magnitude smaller, i...

Semiconductors with a moderate bandgap have enabled modern electronic device technology, and the current scaling trends down to nanometer scale have introduced two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors. The bandgap of a semiconductor has been an intrinsic property independent of the environments and determined fundamental semiconductor device characteristics. In contrast to bulk semiconductors, we de...

Atom arrangements in IH-V ternary aHoy semiconductors are discussed using a thermodynamic analysis in which the elastic strain caused by mixing is considered as the mixing enthalpy. In calculating the strain energy, both bond-stretching and bond-angl.e distortion are taken into account, and Martin's microscopic elastic constants are used. The results show that there is a preference for ordering...

P-type doping of wide-bandgap semiconductors has long been a challenging issue for the relatively large activation energy and strong compensation of acceptor states in these materials, which hinders their applications in ultraviolet (UV) optoelectronic devices drastically. Here we show that by employing electrostatic doping method, hole-dominant region can be formed in wide bandgap semiconducto...

The comprehensive search for multifunctional materials has resulted in the discovery of semiconductors and oxides showing ferromagnetic features persisting to room temperature. In this tutorial review the methods of synthesis of these materials, as well as the application of element-specific nano-analytic tools, particularly involving synchrotron radiation and electron microscopy, are described...

Recent high pressure x-ray experiments show that, contrary to traditional expectations, the NaCl structure is not present in covalent semiconductors, and the diatomic b-Sn structure is absent in all compound semiconductors. We explain these systematic absences in terms of dynamical phonon instabilities of the NaCl and b-Sn crystal structures. Covalent materials in the NaCl structure become dyna...

The advantages of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), such as low cost, flexibility and large-area fabrication, have recently attracted much attention due to their electronic applications. Practical transistors require high mobility, large on/off ratio, low threshold voltage and high stability. Development of new organic semiconductors is key to achieving these parameters. Recently, organ...

Since transition metal impurities affect the electronic and optical properties of semiconductors [1], it is important to understand the role of such unavoidable impurities on those properties. At the same time, transition metals in semiconductors can be used in other unusual situations. The energy levels related to transition metal impurities are aligned with respect to each other for the same ...