Photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen production is crucial to reducing greenhouse gas emissions for carbon neutrality and meeting energy demands. Pivotal advances in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting have been achieved by increasing solar light absorption. P-type Cu-based metal oxide materials have a wide range of energy band gaps and outstanding band edges for PEC water splitting. In this study, we first prepared Cu₂O thin films using electrodeposition and fabricated a heterojunction structure of CuO/Cu₂O by controlling annealing temperatures. The surface morphological, optical, and electrochemical properties were characterized using various analytical tools. X-ray and Raman spectroscopic approaches were used to verify the heterojunction of CuO/Cu₂O, while surface analyses revealed surface roughness changes in thin films as the annealing temperatures increased. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopic measurements in conjunction with the Mott–Schottky analysis confirm that the CuO/Cu₂O heterojunction thin film can boost photocurrent generation (1.03 mA/cm² at 0 V vs. RHE) via enhanced light absorption, a higher carrier density, and a higher flat band potential than CuO and Cu₂O thin films (0.92 and 0.08 mA/cm², respectively).

We experimentally observe the formation of high-order transverse patterns in a laser resonator with a high degree of frequency degeneracy. It is found that the transverse patterns are well localized on the Lissajous orbits. The connection between the wave functions and the classical periodic orbits is analytically constructed by using the representation of SU(2) coherent states. With this connection, the observed transverse patterns are reconstructed very well. The nice reconstruction suggests that the laser resonators can be deliberately designed to attain a more thorough understanding of the quantum-classical connection.

In this paper, aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al or AZO) thin films are grown using atomic layer deposition (ALD) and the influence of postdeposition UV–ozone and thermal annealing treatments on the films’ properties are investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed a polycrystalline wurtzite structure with a preferable (100) orientation. The crystal size increase after the thermal annealing is observed while UV–ozone exposure led to no significant change in crystallinity. The results of the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses show that a higher amount of oxygen vacancies exists in the ZnO:Al after UV–ozone treatment, and that the ZnO:Al, after annealing, has a lower amount of oxygen vacancies. Important and practical applications of ZnO:Al (such as transparent conductive oxide layer) were found, and its electrical and optical properties demonstrate high tunability after postdeposition treatment, particularly after UV–Ozone exposure, offers a noninvasive and easy way to lower the sheet resistance values. At the same time, UV–Ozone treatment did not cause any significant changes to the polycrystalline structure, surface morphology, or optical properties of the AZO films.

The defect-induced carrier localization in nonpolar a-plane (Al,Ga)N/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) structures with different well thickness have been investigated. A strong variation of temperature-dependent photoluminescence peak energy was observed and attributed to the existence of the localized states. The degree of carrier localization in these defect-induced states was more prominent in the case of MQWs with the wider well width. In addition, the ultraviolet light emission efficiency revealed a 3-fold enhancement with increasing the well width from 1.6 nm to 7.3 nm, due to the strong carrier localization generated from the quantum-wire-like features formed by the intersection between basal stacking faults and quantum wells.

This study demonstrates two approaches to the growth of GaN-based LEDs on (−2 0 1)-oriented β -Ga ₂ O ₃ single crystal substrates using metal-organic CVD under atmospheric pressure. One approach induces non-continuous growth between low-temperature undoped-GaN (u-GaN) and high-temperature u-GaN, whereas the other approach induces continuous growth. We observed the following reduction in the FWHM of X-ray diffraction rocking curves: GaN (0 0 2) on (−2 0 1) β -Ga ₂ O ₃ substrate (from 464 to 342 arcsec) and GaN (1 0 2) (from 886 to 493 arcsec). An LED with six pairs of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells was successfully fabricated on the (−2 0 1) β -Ga ₂ O ₃ single crystal substrate.

Mikania micrantha is an exotic and aggressive species that can reproduce asexually and sexually through its germinative stem and its featherlike seeds. Present weeding methods cannot effectively or economically control the spread of Mikania micrantha. In this article, we propose a method to suppress the growth and spread of Mikania micrantha by applying a high-energy laser beam to penetrate its stem. The threshold penetrating optical intensity is 3.1 W/mm². To optimize the damage to the inner tissue of the stem, which includes the vascular bundle and medulla for transporting organic nutrients, water, and inorganic salt, the absorption spectrum of the tissue and laser beam size are analyzed. According to the absorption spectrum of the tissue and growth mechanism of Mikania micrantha, a 455 nm blue laser is used as an irradiated light source. A single beam with two different beam sizes or two laser beams with the same beam size is used to optimize the stem damage. By the time the cumulative energy reaches 15 Joules for a single laser beam with dimensions of 0.81 mm × 0.74 mm, the inner tissue will be damaged 97.5%. We perform laser irradiation on the fresh Mikania micrantha grown hydroponically, with the result that all samples withered in 30 days. Therefore, using the method before the flowering season of Mikania micrantha can effectively inhibit its reproduction.