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.     

Enhancing UV photosensitivity of ZnO UV nanosensor using electrical stimulation at megahertz frequency

We report a novel technique to enhance the ultraviolent (UV) photosensitivity of ZnO nanosensor with ZnO nanowires bridged on micromachined metallic electrodes. The experimental results reveal that the photoconductivity and the time response of the ZnO nanowire sensor with either Schottky or Ohmic contacts are significantly improved by electrifying the nanowire sensors using an alternating current at the frequency of megahertz. An integrated UV sensor incorporating ZnO nanowires with a constant current mode driving circuit is developed, which demonstrates promising sensitivity and time response to UV illumination with a low power consumption.     

Enhancing UV photosensitivity of a ZnO UV nanosensor using electrical stimulation at megahertz frequency

We report a novel technique to enhance the ultraviolet (UV) photosensitivity of a ZnO nanosensor with ZnO nanowires bridged on micromachined metallic electrodes. The experimental results reveal that the photoconductivity and the time response of the ZnO nanowire sensor with either Schottky or Ohmic contacts are significantly improved by electrifying the nanowire sensors using an alternating current at the frequency of megahertz. An integrated UV sensor incorporating ZnO nanowires with a constant current mode driving circuit is developed, which demonstrates promising sensitivity and time response to UV illumination with a low power consumption.     

Aligned growth of ZnO nanowires by NAPLD and their optical characterizations

Not only vertically aligned ZnO nanowires but also horizontally aligned ZnO nanowires have been successfully grown on the annealed (0 0 0 1) c-cut and (1 1 2 0) a-cut sapphire substrates, respectively using catalyst-free nanoparticle-assisted pulsed-laser ablation deposition (NAPLD). The as-synthesized ZnO nanowires exhibit an ultraviolet emission at around 390 nm and the absent green emission under room temperature. The single ZnO nanowire was collected in the electrode gap by dielectrophoresis (DEP). Under the optical pumping, the single ZnO nanowire exhibited UV emission at around 390 nm with several sharp peaks whose energy spacings are almost constant, which greatly differs from the broad UV emission of the film with many nanowires, suggesting ZnO nanowires as candidates for laser media. The single ZnO nanowire showed polarized photoluminescence (PL). The as-synthesized ZnO nanowires could find many interesting applications in short-wavelength light-emitting diode (LED), laser diode and gas sensor.     

Investigation of the Recombination Processes in Zinc Oxide under Pulsed Excitation

Results of experimental study of luminescence and microwave photoconductivity in zinc oxide under pulsed photoexcitation are presented. A recombination model is suggested which explains the different kinetic dependences of the luminescence and photoconductivity decay. The results obtained demonstrate that the green luminescence arises in ZnO due to the recombination of an electron from the conduction band with a hole trapped by a luminescence center.     

UV-blocking ZnO nanostructure anti-reflective coatings

In this paper, we apply finite difference time domain simulation to determine the absorptance and reflectance of ZnO nanowire and nanohole array structures for an efficient UV-blocking anti-reflective coating. Comparing to ZnO thin films, both nanowires and nanoholes have much improved performance. ZnO nanowires and nanoholes have similar absorptions in the UV range. However, ZnO nanowires have lower absorptance than nanoholes in the visible range. Influences of different parameters including lattice constant a, ZnO filling ratio f and nanowire heights h are analyzed. The optical properties of the nanostructures are less dependent on the incident angle of light, which enables them to be used as wide angle anti-reflective coatings with UV blocking.     

单根砷掺杂氧化锌纳米线场效应晶体管的电学及光学特性

采用化学气相沉积（CVD）的方法在砷化镓基底上合成直径为20 nm左右、长约数十微米的氧化锌纳米线,然后采用热扩散的方法,将生长于砷化镓基底之上的氧化锌纳米线通过600 ℃,30 min的有氧退火处理后,获得了砷掺杂的氧化锌纳米线.将获得的掺杂后的氧化锌纳米线采用电子束曝光以及真空溅射镀膜的方法将钛/金合金作为接触电极引出,从而构建成场效应晶体管.文中研究了单根氧化锌纳米线砷掺杂前后的电学特性,证实了通过砷掺杂来获得p型的氧化锌纳米线的可行性.构建的p型砷掺杂氧化锌场效应晶体管的跨导为35 nA/V,载流 关键词： p型ZnO纳米线 砷掺杂 场效应晶体管 光致发光     

Optoelectronic characterisation of an individual ZnO nanowire in contact with a micro-grid template

Optoelectronic characterisation of an individual ZnO nanowire in contact with a micro-grid template has been studied.The low-cost micro-grid template made by photolithography is used to fabricate the ohmic contact metal electrodes.The current increases linearly with the bias,indicating good ohmic contacts between the nanowire and the electrodes.The resistivity of the ZnO nanowire is calculated to be 3.8 ·cm.We investigate the photoresponses of an individual ZnO nanowire under different light illumination using light emitting diodes(λ = 505 nm,460 nm,375 nm) as excitation sources in atmosphere.When individual ZnO nanowire is exposured to different light irradiation,we find that it is extremely sensitive to UV illumination;the conductance is much larger upon UV illumination than that in the dark at room temperature.This phenomenon may be related to the surface oxygen molecule adsorbtion,which indicates their potential application to the optoelectronic switching device.     

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.     

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.     

Self-magnetism and Persistent Photoconductivity

Persistent photoconductivity has been investigated by various models, among which the Macroscopic Barrier model, Large-Lattice-Relaxation model, and Random Local Potential Fluctuations model are mostly well known. Although the three well-known models have played important roles in describing the persistent photoconductivity, they are not the principal cause of persistent photoconductivity. In this paper a classical model originated from “self-magnetism of electron gas” is proposed to illustrate the persistent photoconductivity phenomenon. This classical model is based on electron gas pulsation, which depends on the charge density. Different concentrations of current carriers create different frequencies in the system, and thus the system is sensitive to different wave lengths of incident light. Then the construction of different detectors can be possible for different wave lengths of incident light.     

Investigation of the fill factor of dye-sensitized solar cell based on ZnO nanowire arrays

The fill factor of dye-sensitized solar cells based on the ZnO nanowire array is very low, which is usually ascribed to a rapid charge recombination. In this article, the influence on the fill factor of ZnO nanowire array cell is investigated and discussed by comparing dark current and decay rate of open circuit potential of the ZnO nanowire array cell with those of the ZnO nanoparticle cell, TiO₂ nanoparticle cell and TiO₂-coated ZnO nanowire array cell. The results demonstrate that the low fill factor of the ZnO nanowire array cell is largely caused by a rapid decrease of electron injection efficiency rather than a rapid charge recombination, which is decided by the absorption nature of Ru-complexed dye molecules on ZnO surface and repellency of radial electric field. The fill factor of the ZnO nanowire array cell can be improved by coating ZnO nanowires with a wide band gap semiconductor material or metal oxide insulator.     

一维纳米氧化锌自驱动紫外探测器的构建与性能研究

本文通过化学气相沉积法制备了ZnO纳米材料, 利用扫描电镜、光致发光谱、X衍射光谱及拉曼光谱等方法对制备的材料进行了表征. 基于制备的单根ZnO线分别构建了三种不同结构的紫外探测器件: Ag-ZnO-Ag肖特基型、PEDOT:PSS/n-ZnO结型和p-Si/n-ZnO结型紫外探测器, 并对器件的性能进行了研究. 结果表明: 三种不同结构的器件都表现出良好的整流特性, 对紫外线均有明显的光响应; 在零偏压下, 都有明显的自驱动特性. 三种器件中, p-Si/n-ZnO型紫外探测器性能最为优异: 在零偏压下, 暗电流约在1.2×10^-3 nA, 光电流在5.4 nA左右, 光暗电流比为4.5×10³, 上升和下降时间分别为0.7 s和1 s. 通过三类器件性能比较, 表明无机p-Si更适合与ZnO构建pn结型自驱动紫外探测器.     

Fill factor controlled nanoimprinted ZnO nanowires based on atomic layer deposition

Enhanced diffraction by sub-wavelength nanostructures to convert incident electromagnetic radiation into waveguide modes has applications in anti-reflective coatings for optoelectronic devices. We propose a metal oxide (ZnO) nanowire grid polarizer as such a nanostructure, fabricated by ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography and whose fill factor (FF) is controlled by atomic layer deposition. Using finite difference time domain simulations, we investigated the polarization-dependent optical transmittance of the structures and calculated the polarizing efficiency. Optical profiles such as electric and magnetic field intensity and current density distributions of specific FF nanopatterns were determined for the transverse magnetic and transverse electric modes. The effects of geometrical parameters including the wire-grid period, fill ratio, and spacing between the wire-grid layers on diffraction wavelength were characterized. Respective FF-controlled ZnO nanowire structures were fabricated and their experimental optical transmittances were measured for nanowire grid polarizer applications.     

Comparison of bismuth emitting liquid metal ion sources

In this paper, we report on studying of ZnO nanowire mats as an electrical nanomaterial with particular interest in their interaction with various gas surroundings for gas sensing characteristics. The ZnO nanowires were synthesized on sapphire substrates using a horizontal tube furnace. The techniques of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) were applied to determine the as-grown ZnO nanowires’ morphological and crystal structures, chemical composition and electronic states. Four-terminal current-voltage (I–V) measurements were used to examine the electrical conductance of the ZnO nanowire mats exposed to various testing gases with reference to the vacuum condition. Gas exposure experiments were conducted in a custom-built environmental chamber, which was filled with different testing gases. We observed the current being significantly influenced with ambient CO gas. The I–V behavior of CO gas was also found to be reversible and repeatable after the chamber evacuation, which indicates that the ZnO nanowire mats can be used for gas sensing purposes. A possible interactive model of nanowires and testing gas molecules is proposed to elucidate the sensing selective and sensitive mechanism for gas sensors.     

Characterizations of low-temperature electroluminescence from ZnO nanowire light-emitting arrays on the p-GaN layer

Low-temperature electroluminescence from ZnO nanowire light-emitting arrays is reported. By inserting a thin MgO current blocking layer in between ZnO nanowire and p-GaN, high-purity UV light emission at wavelength 398 nm was obtained. As the temperature is decreased, contrary to the typical GaN-based light emitting diodes, our device shows a decrease of optical output intensity. The results are associated with various carrier tunneling processes and frozen MgO defects.     

Growth of vertically aligned one-dimensional ZnO nanowire arrays on sol–gel derived ZnO thin films

Vertically aligned one-dimensional ZnO nanowire arrays have been synthesized by a hydrothermal method on sol–gel derived ZnO films. Sol–gel derived ZnO films and corresponding ZnO nanowire arrays have been characterized by X-ray diffraction and field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The effect of sol–gel derived ZnO film surface on the morphology of ZnO nanowire arrays has been investigated. The authors suggest from our investigation that sol–gel derived ZnO films affect the growth of one-dimensional ZnO nanostructures. Not only crystalline ZnO films but also amorphous ones can act as a scaffold for ZnO nucleus. Tilted ZnO micro-rods are grown on ZnO gel films, whereas vertically aligned ZnO nanowire arrays are grown on nanometer-sized ZnO grains. The average diameter of ZnO nanowire arrays are correlated strongly with the grain size of sol–gel derived ZnO films.     

Integration of ZnO nanowires in gated field emitter arrays for large-area vacuum microelectronics applications

Addressable field emitter arrays (FEAs) have important applications in vacuum electronic devices. However, it is important to integrate nanowire emitters into a gated structure without influencing the device structure and maintain the excellent field emission properties of nanowire emitters in the FEAs after the fabrication process. In this study, gate-structure ZnO nanowire FEAs were fabricated by a microfabrication process. The structure combines a planar gate and an under-gate, which is compatible with the preparation of ZnO nanowire emitters. The effect of electrode materials on the field emission properties of ZnO nanowires was studied using a diode structure, and it was found that ZnO nanowire pads on indium-tin-oxide (ITO) electrode showed better field emission performance compared with chromium (Cr) electrode. In addition, effective emission current modulation by the gate voltage was achieved and the addressing capability was demonstrated by integrating the ZnO nanowire FEAs in a vacuum-encapsulated field emission display. The reported technique could be a promising route to achieve large area addressable FEAs.     

Zur Diffusion lichtelektrisch angeregter Elektronen und über dendc-Effekt an ZnO-Kristallen

In the volume of ZnO single crystals electrons are excited into the conductionband by two-photon absorption of ruby laser light at room temperature. At the edge of the irradiated region there occur a gradient in the concentration and a diffusion of the electrons. As the diffusion is anisotropic in Li-doped ZnO crystals, an axial quadrupole results, which influences measurable charges on the electrodes of the crystal. From the amount of the charge, the product of drift mobility and drift lifetime μ_Dτ_D can be calculated for Li-doped ZnO. Cu-doped ZnO shows no anisotropic diffusion. By means of photoconductivity experiments, μ_Dτ_D can be obtained in this case. Finally the coefficients of thedc-effect of ZnO are measured with a Neodymium laser.     

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.