A novel mild etchant for photoelectrochemical etching of GaN with enhanced photoresponse

[Display omitted] •Taurine aqueous solution was a novel mild etchant.•Etching process had little lattice damage to GaN crystal.•The etched GaN had enhanced and stable photoresponses. A novel mild etchant, i.e., taurine aqueous solution, was used to photoelectrochemical etching of GaN. The pore shape of etched GaN can be regulated via etching time, and the etching process had no influence on the crystal integration and stress property of GaN. The photocurrents of etched GaN were larger than that of as-grown planar GaN, demonstrating its potential for photoelectric fields.