Photoelectrochemical Properties of N-Incorporated ZnO Films Deposited by Reactive RF Magnetron Sputtering

The photoelectrochemical properties of nitrogen-incorporated films prepared by reactive radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering were measured and compared with those of pure films. We find that nitrogen incorporation narrows the bandgap of and shifts the optical absorption into the visible light regions. We further find that the films provide considerable photoresponse in the long-wavelength regions up to above . As a result, the films exhibit higher photocurrents than pure films under visible light illumination. The obtained photocatalytic activity indicates that films are potential candidates for photoelectrochemical water splitting and N incorporation can be utilized to improve the conversion efficiency.