Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) microspheres (CNMS) were fabricated via a solvothermal method by using dicyandiamide and cyanuric chloride as precursors. The morphology, band structure, and defects can be simultaneously regulated by merely adjusting the concentration of precursors. Structural characterization results indicate that all the prepared samples possess spherical morphology, while the band gap decreased as the precursor concentration increased from 8 mmol (CNMS-1) to 24 mmol (CNMS-3). Besides, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy results suggested that the valence band of CNMS-2 (16 mmol) was much higher than that of CNMS-1 and CNMS-3. Additionally, organic elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance results unveil the formation of nitrogen defects on the surface of prepared samples. Besides, CNMS-2 exhibits an enhanced apparent reaction rate constant of RhB degradation than that of CNMS-1 and CNMS-3. The improved apparent reaction rate constant may be due to the lowered valence band as well as the formation of nitrogen defects. This work might guide the regulation of the morphology and band structure of g-C3N4-based materials prepared via the one-pot hydrothermal method.

The structural, mechanical, and electronic properties of rhenium, osmium, and tungsten tetranitrides, XN4 (X = Re, Os, W) with the orthorhombic ReP4-type structure have been investigated by first-principles calculations using density functional plane-wave pseudopotential method. The calculated formation enthalpies and elastic constants show that these tetranitrides are energetically and mechanically stable. It is appeared from the calculated band structures and density of states that ReN4 and new proposed WN4 are metallic, while OsN4 is semiconductor with a band gap of 0.64 eV. The hardness values of all compounds obtained from different hardness methods indicate that these tetranitrides are superhard materials.

A brief review on the present knowledge of the electronic properties of the Ga(In)NAs ternary and quaternary alloys is given mainly from an experimental perspective. The discussion is focused on Ga(In)NAs with low N composition (< 10 %), where a large amount of experimental work has been done. Important fundamental electronic properties of the material system are analyzed with the emphasis on the nature of the giant band gap bowing in the alloy and nitrogen-induced modifications of the electronic structure of the conduction band. The current knowledge of the key material parameters, relevant for the device applications, such as electron effective mass, recombination processes and band alignment in Ga(In)NAs/GaAs heterostructures, is also reviewed.

We have studied optical properties of GaN grown on sapphire by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition in the near band-edge energy range by cathodoluminescence. A large shift of the band-edge luminescence to lower energies is induced by increasing the beam energy. The free exciton position shifts about 20 meV when the beam energy is increased from 5 keV to 25 keV at room-temperature. The effect is explained by internal absorption caused by an exponential absorption tail at the band-edge. An Urbach parameter of about 30 to 40 meV for the exponential band-tail in our samples is estimated by comparing experimental with simulated spectra.

We present first-principles studies of the effect of biaxial (0001)-strain on the electronic structure of wurtzite GaN, AlN, and InN. We provide accurate predictions for the valence band splittings as a function of strain which greatly facilitates the interpretation of data from samples with unintentional growth-induced strain. The present calculations are based on the total-energy pseudopotential method within the local-density formalism and include the spin-orbit interaction nonperturbatively. For a given biaxial strain, all structural parameters are determined by minimization of the total energy with respect to the electronic and ionic degrees of freedom. Our calculations predict that the valence band state Γ9(Γ6) lies energetically above the Γ7(Γ1) states in GaN and InN, in contrast to the situation in AlN. In all three nitrides, we find that the ordering of these two levels becomes reversed for some value of biaxial strain. In GaN, this crossing takes place already at 0.32% tensile strain. For larger tensile strains, the top of the valence band becomes well separated from the lower states. The computed crystal-field and spin-orbit splittings in unstrained materials as well as the computed deformation potentials agree well with the available experimental data.