Pulsed laser deposition of metal oxide photoelectrodes for solar-driven hydrogen production: Fabrication techniques

The use of pulsed laser deposition as a fabrication technique for metal oxide semiconductor photoelectrodes for solardriven production of hydrogen from aqueous solutions is examined. The physical mechanisms of pulsed laser-material interactions facilitate the deposition of a wide variety of semiconductor materials quickly and controllably. Films prepared by this technique have proven to possess desirable characteristics for many applications, including highly sensitive electronic and optical devices. However, pulsed laser deposition of materials for photoelectrode films is relatively unexplored. Effectively utilizing this technique as a research tool for photoelectrode fabrication involves exploiting the physical phenomena associated with laser-material interactions and the characteristic ablation plume. Through control of process parameters one can engineer and study the composition and structural properties of photoelectrodes simultaneously, which is known to be required for high solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiencies. Characteristics of photoanodes deposited by pulsed laser deposition are presented when illustrative of the fabrication technique discussed.