As new materials are developed, or as their applications develop, it is important to have a range of characterisation techniques to understand their properties with a view to improving their performance. This paper considers a suite of characterisation techniques based on scanning electron microscopy to study emerging semiconductors or semiconductors with emerging applications, with an emphasis on combining multiple different techniques ideally measured simultaneously. Cathodoluminescence (CL) hyperspectral imaging is used to assess the optical properties and wavelength dispersive X-ray (WDX) provides compositional information, with an electron probe microanalyser facilitating their combined use. Electron channeling contrast imaging (ECCI) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) furnish structural information, and electron beam induced current (EBIC) gives electrical information. The techniques are introduced using examples from the III-nitride semiconductors, followed by examples of scanning electron beam investigations of perovskite solar absorber layers, UV-emitting aluminium gallium nitride structures and 2D materials.
Gas-bubble evolution substantially affects the efficiency of gas-evolving electrochemical processes, including water electrolysis. Bubble nucleation, growth, coalescence, and detachment influence the electrode potential, while persistent bubble coverage can impede ionic...
The 2026 Faraday Discussion on emerging materials for optoelectronics applications featured hybrid perovskites, BaZrS 3 and related chalcogenide materials, low-dimensional materials, and data-driven experimental and theoretical methods.
We review the central concepts (e.g. conical intersections) of mechanistic non-adiabatic chemistry as well dynamics methods that can be used where more than one potential surface is involved. With the...
