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Nano Research 2016, 9(9): 2572-2580 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1143-5
Research Article | Issue | Published: 15 June 2016

The coupling influence of UV illumination and strain on the surface potential distribution of a single ZnO micro/nano wire

Show Author's Information Zhao Wu1,  Junjie Qi1( ),  Feng Li1,  Xiaoyang Zhu1,  Zengze Wang1,  Guangjie Zhang1,  Yue Zhang1,2( )
School of Materials Science and EngineeringState Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and MaterialsUniversity of Science and Technology BeijingBeijing100083China
The Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of New Energy Materials and TechnologiesUniversity of Science and Technology BeijingBeijing100083China
Keywords:
ZnO, strain, ultraviolet illumination, surface potential
Cite this article:
Wu Z, Qi J, Li F, et al. The coupling influence of UV illumination and strain on the surface potential distribution of a single ZnO micro/nano wire. Nano Research, 2016, 9(9): 2572-2580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1143-5
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Abstract Full text About this article

Interface/surface properties play an important role in the development of most electronic devices. In particular, nanowires possess large surface areas that create new challenges for their optoelectronic applications. Here, we demonstrated that the piezoelectric field and UV laser illumination modulate the surface potential distribution of a bent ZnO wire by the Kelvin probe force microscopy technology. Experiments showed that the surface potential distribution was changed by strain. The difference of surface potential between the outer/inner sides of the ZnO wire increased with increasing strain. Under UV laser illumination, the difference of surface potential between the outer/inner sides of the ZnO wire increased with increasing strain and illumination time. The origin of the observed phenomenon was discussed in terms of the energy band diagram of the bent wire and adsorption/desorption theory. It is suggested that the change of surface potential can be attributed to the uneven distribution of the carrier density across the wire deduced by the piezoelectric effect and surface adsorption/desorption of oxygen ions. This study provides an important insight into the surface and piezoelectric effects on the surface potential and can help optimize the performance of electronic and optoelectronic devices.


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About this article

The coupling influence of UV illumination and strain on the surface potential distribution of a single ZnO micro/nano wire

Show Author's information Zhao Wu1, Junjie Qi1( ), Feng Li1, Xiaoyang Zhu1, Zengze Wang1, Guangjie Zhang1, Yue Zhang1,2( )
School of Materials Science and EngineeringState Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and MaterialsUniversity of Science and Technology BeijingBeijing100083China
The Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of New Energy Materials and TechnologiesUniversity of Science and Technology BeijingBeijing100083China

Abstract

Interface/surface properties play an important role in the development of most electronic devices. In particular, nanowires possess large surface areas that create new challenges for their optoelectronic applications. Here, we demonstrated that the piezoelectric field and UV laser illumination modulate the surface potential distribution of a bent ZnO wire by the Kelvin probe force microscopy technology. Experiments showed that the surface potential distribution was changed by strain. The difference of surface potential between the outer/inner sides of the ZnO wire increased with increasing strain. Under UV laser illumination, the difference of surface potential between the outer/inner sides of the ZnO wire increased with increasing strain and illumination time. The origin of the observed phenomenon was discussed in terms of the energy band diagram of the bent wire and adsorption/desorption theory. It is suggested that the change of surface potential can be attributed to the uneven distribution of the carrier density across the wire deduced by the piezoelectric effect and surface adsorption/desorption of oxygen ions. This study provides an important insight into the surface and piezoelectric effects on the surface potential and can help optimize the performance of electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Keywords: ZnO, strain, ultraviolet illumination, surface potential

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 16 February 2016
Revised: 09 May 2016
Accepted: 10 May 2016
Published: 15 June 2016
Issue date: September 2016

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer‐Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2013CB932602), the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (No. B14003), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51527802, 51232001, and 51572025), Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, the Fundamental Research Funds for Central Universities, State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials.

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