Manufacturing Technology for Semiconductor Electrodes for Hydrogen Production

This patent relates to semiconductor electrodes that absorb visible light and their manufacturing methods, aiming to suppress performance degradation when in contact with water. By providing a semiconductor layer on a conductive substrate and coating it with a protective layer made of oxynitride, it is possible to prevent degradation of the semiconductor layer while improving photocurrent values in water decomposition reactions. This technology is expected to have applications in hydrogen production using sunlight and as a photocatalyst.

• Prevention of degradation through the oxynitride layer
• Protective layer with visible light transparency
• Improvement of film quality through high-frequency plasma treatment

Conventional semiconductor electrodes tend to degrade in performance when in contact with water, particularly showing reduced efficiency in water decomposition reactions. As a result, applications for hydrogen production using sunlight and as a photocatalyst have been limited. Additionally, the direct contact of the semiconductor layer with water leads to chemical oxidation, causing issues with durability over prolonged use. To solve these problems, there has been a need for technology that can protect the semiconductor layer while enhancing photocurrent values.

This patent provides technology to improve photocurrent values while preventing degradation of the semiconductor layer by forming a semiconductor layer that absorbs visible light on a conductive substrate and coating it with a protective layer made of oxynitride. The protective layer is transparent to visible light, thinner than the semiconductor layer, and selected from aluminum, silicon, or zirconium oxynitride. This prevents direct contact of the semiconductor layer with water, thus preventing degradation due to chemical oxidation. Furthermore, by forming the oxynitride layer through plasma treatment, it is possible to maintain stable performance by preventing deterioration of the film quality or the generation of defects.

• Technology that can improve hydrogen production efficiency
• Technology that can prevent degradation of the semiconductor layer
• Technology that can improve photocurrent values