Semiconductor photonic crystals (MSPhC) were used to convert solar energy into hot electrons. An experimental model was designed by using metallic semiconductor photonic crystals (MSPhC). The designed MSPhC is based on TiO₂/Au schottky contact. The model has similar nanocavity structure for broad gold absorption, but the materials on top of the cavity were changed to a metal and a semiconductor in order to collect the hot electrons. Detailed design steps and characterization have shown a broadband sub-bandgap photoresponse at a wavelength of 590 nm. This is due to the surface plasmon absorption by the wafer-scale Au/TiO₂ metallic-semiconductor photonic crystal. Analytical calculation of the hot electron transport from the Au thin layer to the TiO₂ conduction band is discussed. This theoretical study is based on the quantum tunneling effect. The photo generation of the hot electrons was undertaken at different wavelengths in Au absorber followed by tunneling through a schottky barrier into a TiO₂ collector. The presence of a tunnel current from the absorber to the collector under illumination, offers a method to extract carriers from a hot-electron distribution at few bias voltages is presented in this study. The effects of doping different concentrations of the semiconductor on the evolution of the current characteristics were also investigated and discussed. The electrical characteristics were found to be sensitive to any change in the thickness of the barrier.

半导体光子晶体（MSPhC）用于将太阳能转换成热电子。通过使用金属半导体光子晶体（MSPhC）设计了实验模型。设计的MSPhC基于TiO ₂ / Au肖特基接触。该模型具有相似的纳米腔结构，可广泛吸收金，但腔体顶部的材料已更改为金属和半导体，以收集热电子。详细的设计步骤和特性表明，宽带亚带隙光响应的波长为590 nm。这是由于晶片级的Au / TiO ₂金属半导体光子晶体吸收了表面等离子体激元。从Au薄层到TiO ₂的热电子传输的解析计算讨论了导带。该理论研究基于量子隧穿效应。在Au吸收器中以不同的波长进行热电子的光生，然后通过肖特基势垒隧穿到TiO ₂集电体中。这项研究提出了从吸收体到集电极在光照下的隧道电流的存在，提供了一种在很少的偏置电压下从热电子分布中提取载流子的方法。还研究和讨论了掺杂不同浓度的半导体对电流特性演变的影响。发现电学特性对势垒厚度的任何变化都敏感。