Cathodoluminescent and electrical properties of an individual ZnO nanowire with oxygen vacancies

A single ZnO nanowire with intrinsic oxygen vacancies is utilized to fabricate four-contact device with focus ion beam lithography technique. Cathodoluminescent spectra indicate strong near-UV and green emission at both room temperature and low temperatures. Experimental measurement shows the temperature-dependent conductivity of the ZnO nanowire at low temperatures （below 100 K）. The further theoretical analysis confirms that weak localization plays an important role in the electrical transport, which is attributed to the surface states induced by plenty of oxygen vacancies in ZnO nanowire.     

Lasing behaviour from the condensation of polaronic excitons in a ZnO nanowire

Atoms under optical and magnetic trapping in a limited space at a very low temperature can lead to Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC),even in a one-dimensional (1D) optical lattice. However,can the confinment of dense excitons in a 1D semiconductor microstructure easily reach the excitonic BEC A lightly Mn(Ⅱ)-doped ZnO nanowire under a femtosecond laser pulse pump at room temperature produces single-mode lasing from coherent bipolaronic excitons,which is much like a macroscopic quantum state due to the condensation of the bipoaronic excitons if not real BEC. In this process,longitudinal biphonon binding with the exciton plays an important role. We revisit this system and propose possibility of bipolaronic exciton condensation. More studies are needed for this condensation phenomenon in 1D microcavity systems.     

The research on suspended ZnO nanowire field-effect transistor

This paper reports that a novel type of suspended ZnO nanowire field-effect transistors (FETs) were successfully fabricated using a photolithography process, and their electrical properties were characterized by I--V measurements. Single-crystalline ZnO nanowires were synthesized by a hydrothermal method, they were used as a suspended ZnO nanowire channel of back-gate field-effect transistors (FET). The fabricated suspended nanowire FETs showed a p-channel depletion mode, exhibited high on--off current ratio of ～10⁵. When V_DS=2.5 V, the peak transconductances of the suspended FETs were 0.396 μS, the oxide capacitance was found to be 1.547 fF, the pinch-off voltage V_TH was about 0.6 V, the electron mobility was on average 50.17 cm²/Vs. The resistivity of the ZnO nanowire channel was estimated to be 0.96× 10²Ω cm at V_GS = 0 V. These characteristics revealed that the suspended nanowire FET fabricated by the photolithography process had excellent performance. Better contacts between the ZnO nanowire and metal electrodes could be improved through annealing and metal deposition using a focused ion beam.     

One step synthesis of vertically aligned ZnO nanowire arrays with tunable length

Length control of ZnO nanowire arrays is a valuable concern for both fundamental research and future device application. In this article, vertically aligned ZnO nanowire arrays were synthesized by a seed layer catalyzed vapor phase transport method in a single experiment cycle. The length of these nanowire arrays exhibits a quasi-continuous evolution. It was found that the type and flow rate of carrier gas have a significant influence on the length modulation of ZnO arrays along the tube. A feasible route to tune the length of ZnO nanowire arrays from several micrometers to nearly 100 μm could be achieved by adjusting proper deposition position and carrier gas.     

Characterization of ZnO nanowire field-effect transistors and exposed to ultraviolet radiation

A ZnO nanowire (NW) field-effect transistor (FET) is fabricated and characterized, and its characterization of ultraviolet radiation is also investigated. On the one hand, when the radiation time is 5~min, the radiation intensity increases to 5.1~μ W/cm², while the saturation drain current (I_\rm dss) of the nanowire FET decreases sharply from 560 to 320~nA. The field effect mobility (μ ) of the ZnO nanowire FET drops from 50.17 to 23.82~cm²/(V.s) at V_\rm DS=2.5~V, and the channel resistivity of the FET increases by a factor of 2. On the other hand, when the radiation intensity is 2.5~μ W/cm^2 , the DC performance of the FET does not change significantly with irradiation time (its performances at irradiation times of 5 and 20~min are almost the same); in particular, the I_\rm dss of NW FET only reduces by about 50~nA. Research is underway to reveal the intrinsic properties of suspended ZnO nanowires and to explore their device applications.     

Formation of aligned ZnO nanorods on self-grown ZnO template and its enhanced field emission characteristics

We report a novel method for producing aligned ZnO nanorods (ANR) on self-grown ZnO template in a single step process involving growth of ZnO by vapor transport, followed by quenching of growing ZnO flux in liquid nitrogen. In the present study Zn powder turns into ZnO sheet under oxygen flow at ∼900 °C and bottom surface of the sheet acts as template for the growth of ANR. It is revealed from XRD and EDAX analysis that the bottom of the sheet is Zn rich region and acts as self catalyst for the growth of ANR. The grown nanorods have length up to several tens of micrometers with diameters ranging from ∼100 to 150 nm. Microstructural analysis of ANR indicates the fractal like configuration. The field emission properties have been investigated for ANR with fractal geometry using the ANR on self-grown ZnO template as a cathode directly. The turn-on electric field required to draw current density of ∼1.0 μA/cm² has been found to be ∼0.98 V/μm. The field enhancement factor based on Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) plot was found to be ∼7815 for ANR. The fractal geometry of ANR has been shown to be advantageous for achieving improved field emission features. The present investigations of synthesis involving formation of ANR over self-grown ZnO template, together with fractal configuration of the as-synthesized ANR, are first of their type.     

Effect of Mn-doping on the growth mechanism and electromagnetic properties of chrysanthemum-like ZnO nanowire clusters

Chrysanthemum-like ZnO nanowire clusters with different Mn-doping concentrations are prepared by a hydrothermal process. The microstructure, morphology and electromagnetic properties are characterized by x-ray diffractometer high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), a field emission environment scanning electron microscope (FEESEM) and a microwave vector network analyser respectively. The experimental results indicate that the as-prepared products are Mn-doped ZnO single crystalline with a hexagonal wurtzite structure, that the growth habit changes due to Mn-doping and that a good magnetic loss property is found in the Mn-doped ZnO products, and the average magnetic loss tangent tanδ_m is up to 0.170099 for 3% Mn-doping, while the dielectric loss tangent tanδ_e is weakened, owing to the fact that ions Mn^{2 +} enter the crystal lattice of ZnO.     

Effect of Sb-doping on the morphology and dielectric properties of chrysanthemum-like ZnO nanowire clusters

Chrysanthemum-like ZnO nanowire clusters with different Sb-doping concentrations were prepared using a hydrothermal process. The microstructures, morphologies, and dielectric properties of the as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), field emission environment scanning electron microscope (FEESEM), and microwave vector network analyzer respectively. The results indicate that the as-prepared products are Sb-doped ZnO single crystallines with a hexagonal wurtzite structure, the flower bud saturation degree F d is obviously different from that of the pure ZnO nanowire clusters, the good dielectric loss property is found in Sb-doped ZnO products with low density, and the dielectric loss tangent tanδ e increases with the increase of the Sb-doping concentration in a certain concentration range.     

Polarized SERS study of an individual Ag nanowire with bulb humps

Polarization-dependent surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of an individual Ag nanowire (NW) with bulb humps (including nm-scaled bulb humps on the body part and a bulb NW-tip) was investigated. Strong SERS effect was observed from the bulb NW-tip, which exhibited cos²θ dependence relative to the polarization angle θ of the incident laser. Such dependence is similar to that of the NW-body with bulb humps, but different from that of the other NW-tip with crown shape. Their different polarized SERS behaviors along with the bulb hump effect on SERS were discussed.     

Control growth of catalyst-free high-quality ZnO nanowire arrays on transparent quartz glass substrate by chemical vapor deposition

ZnO nanowire arrays have been successfully synthesized on transparent quartz glass substrate by chemical vapor deposition technique. Our work demonstrates the critical role of the growth temperature and the buffer layer on the effective control of the morphology of ZnO nanowires. A proper growth temperature and the thicker buffer layer could promise the good alignment and high density of the nanowires. The room-temperature photoluminescence spectrum shows that the buffer layer has also great effects on optical properties of ZnO nanowire arrays. The integrated intensity ratio [I_UV/I_{Visible band}] of the ZnO UV emission peak to visible band emission decreases with the increase of the thickness of the buffer layers. The obtained nanowire arrays have transmittance of above 50% in the visible region.     

Electrical characteristics and optoelectronic properties of metal--semiconductor--metal structure with zinc oxide nanowires across Au electrodes

This paper reports on a method of assembling semiconducting ZnO nanowires onto a pair of Au electrodes to construct a metal--semiconductor metal （MSM） structure by dieleetrophoresis and studying on its electrical characteristics by using current-voltage （Ⅰ - Ⅴ） measurements. An electronic model with two back to back Sehottky diodes in series with a semiconductor of nanowires was established to study the electrical transport of the MSM structures. By fitting the measured Ⅰ - Ⅴ characteristics using the proposed model, the parameters of the Schottky contacts and the resistance of nanowires could be acquired. The photoelectric properties of the MSM structures were also investigated by analysing the measurements of the electrical transports under various light intensities. The deduced results demonstrate that ZnO nanowires and their Schottky contacts with Au electrodes both contribute to photosensitivity and the MSM structures with ZnO nanowires are potentially applicable for photonic devices.     

ZnO纳米线二极管发光器件制备及特性研究

运用液相法生长成ZnO纳米线薄膜，并利用肖特基型异质结的发光原理，构造成功肖特基型ZnO纳米线二极管发光器件.在大于6V直流电压驱动下，观察到近紫外波段392nm处和可见光波段525nm的发射谱带.从单向导电特性及ZnO纳米线材料的能带结构等方面探讨了该种器件的电致发光机理.     

Local field emission of electrons from an individual boron nanowire at nanometer electrode separation

The field electron emission properties of an individual β-rhombohedral boron nanowire (β-r BNW) with electrode separation at nanoscale have been studied by ultrahigh vacuum four-probe scanning tunneling microscope (STM) system. A reproducible and stable emission current can be obtained. The maximal emission current density of individual boron nanowire is about 5 × 10⁴ A/cm² at a low bias voltage (80 V). An obvious deviation from the Fowler-Nordheim (FN) theory appears, when the electrode separation reduced below 120 nm. This deviation is tentatively assumed to due to the invalidation of free electron cloud approximation in FN theory.     

Control of ZnO nanowire arrays by nanosphere lithography (NSL) on laser-produced ZnO substrates

Nanosphere lithography (NSL) is a successful technique for fabricating highly ordered arrays of ZnO nanowires typically on sapphire and GaN substrates. In this work, we investigate the use of thin ZnO films deposited on Si by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) as the substrate. This has a number of advantages over the alternatives above, including cost and potential scalability of production and it removes any issue of inadvertent n-type doping of nanowires by diffusion from the substrate. We demonstrate ordered arrays of ZnO nanowires, on ZnO-coated substrates by PLD, using a conventional NSL technique with gold as the catalyst. The nanowires were produced by vapor phase transport (VPT) growth in a tube furnace system and grew only on the areas pre-patterned by Au. We have also investigated the growth of ZnO nanowires using ZnO catalyst points deposited by PLD through an NSL mask on a bare silicon substrate.     

Optical processes in the formation of stimulated emission from ZnO nanowires

This paper studies power dependent photoluminescence spectra, the stimulated emission occurring at ultraviolet (UV) band instead of the green emission band of ZnO nanowires, which are prepared with a chemical reduction method. The dynamics of the UV emission and green emission is given to demonstrate the reason of stimulated emission occurring at UV band but not the green emission band under high excitation, which indicates that the slow decay rate of trap state makes it easy to be fully filled and saturated, while the fast decay rate of near-band-edge exciton state makes the UV emission dominate the radiative recombination under high excitation. The UV emission, as well as the corresponding stimulated emission, occurs in competition with the green deep-trap emission. In addition, when pump fluence further increases, the multiple lasing modes appear. The dependence of these lasing modes on the pump fluence is first discussed. This diagram should be helpful to understand and design the optical nanodevices of ZnO nanowires.     

单晶ZnO纳米线的合成和生长机理研究

用化学气相输运(CVT)方法合成了直径在20～120nm呈单晶结构的ZnO纳米线.利用场发射扫描电 镜(FESEM)、高分辨透射电镜(HRTEM)以及选区电子衍射(SAED)等技术对ZnO纳米线的生长机理和结构进行 了系统研究,结果表明,纳米线的成核与Au Zn合金催化颗粒的饱和度有直接的关系,先饱和的颗粒上纳米线首 先成核.纳米线顶端合金颗粒组成的变化是导致纳米线生长终止的重要原因,大量纳米线的生长不是同时进行 的.本工作提供了支持纳米线气液固(V L S)生长机理的新实验证据,提出了氧化物纳米线的生长机理.     

Electrical characterisation of phosphorus-doped ZnO thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

Phosphorus-doped ZnO films were grown by pulsed laser deposition using a ZnO:P₂O₅-doped target as the phosphorus source with the aim of producing p-type ZnO material. ZnO:P layers (with phosphorus concentrations of between 0.01 to 1 wt%) were grown on a pure ZnO buffer layer. The electrical properties of the films were characterised from temperature dependent Hall-effect measurements. The samples typically showed weak n-type conduction in the dark, with a resistivity of 70 Ω cm, a Hall mobility of μ_n0.5 cm² V ⁻¹ s⁻¹ and a carrier concentration of n3×10¹⁷ cm⁻³ at room temperature. After exposure to an incandescent light source, the samples underwent a change in conduction from n- to p-type, with an increase in mobility and decrease in concentration for temperatures below 300 K.     

ANSYS仿真激光切割氧化锌纳米线

 以脉冲高斯激光为光源,直径在500 nm～1 000 nm、长度10 μm的一维氧化锌材料为对象,采用有限元分析软件ANSYS建立了激光切割氧化锌纳米线的热力学仿真模型,并采用生死单元技术对超过熔点的单元进行处理,得到不同激光工作参数和氧化锌纳米线直径下的温度分布场和切割形貌。讨论了纳米线直径和聚焦光斑相对纳米线的位移对切割的影响,纳米线直径越大允许的激光离焦量越小;当无离焦或负离焦较小时,切割纳米线产生的形貌较为理想。     

Microstructure and magnetic properties of Co-Cu nanowire arrays fabricated by galvanic displacement deposition

CoCu nanowires were fabricated in anodic alumina templates by a simple metal displacement deposition method and the as-deposited samples were subsequently annealed at 400 °C in vacuum. The CoCu nanowires are 80 nm in diameter and 50 μm in length. The aspect ratio (ratio of length to diameter) is larger than 600, which results in distinctive magnetic anisotropy. Enhanced coercivity (about 2245 Oe) and large squareness of 92% have been observed in the annealed samples.     

Wetting characteristics of ZnO smooth film and nanowire structure with and without OTS coating

ZnO is an important material that is used in a variety of technologies including optical devices, sensors, and other microsystems. In many of these technologies, wettability is of great concern because of its implications in numerous surface related interactions. In this work, the effects of surface morphology and surface energy on the wetting characteristics of ZnO were investigated. ZnO specimens were prepared in both smooth film and nanowire structure in order to investigate the effects of surface morphology. Also, a hydrophobic octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) coating was used to chemically modify the surface energy of the ZnO surface. Wettability of the surfaces was assessed by measuring the water contact angle. The results showed that the water contact angle varied significantly with surface morphology as well as surface energy. OTS coated ZnO nanowire specimen had the highest contact angle of 150°, which corresponded to a superhydrophobic surface. This was a drastic difference from the contact angle of 87° obtained for the smooth ZnO film specimen. In addition to the initial contact angle, the evolution of the water droplet with respect to time was investigated. The wetting state of water droplet was analyzed with both Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter models. Spontaneous and gradual spreading, together with evaporation phenomenon contributed to the changing shape, and hence the varying contact angle, of the water droplet over time.