Nonequilibrium Fermi energy characteristics of n- and p-semiconductor electrodes under dark and photocurrents up to large band bending Original Research Article

The dynamics of chemical charge transfer processes on semiconductor electrodes is essentially influenced by nonequilibrium Fermi energy characteristics of electrons and holes. In this context, the carrier-transport-controlled bending of nonequilibrium Fermi energies in the barrier regime has once more been proved up to large band bending, both under dark and photocurrents, on n- and p-GaAs and n-GaP electrodes. The criteria of nondegeneracy of majority and minority Fermi energies based on dark and photoadmittance measurements are discussed in greater detail. On the addressed examples, conservation of nondegeneracy under strong band bending has been confirmed up to barrier breakdown.