Pt ∕ ZnO nanowire Schottky diodes

Abstract

Pt Schottky diodes were formed on single ZnO nanowires grown by site-selective molecular-beam epitaxy and then transferred to SiO2-coated Si substrates. The diodes exhibit excellent ideality factors of 1.1 at 25 °C and very low (1.5×10−10A, equivalent to 2.35Acm−2, at −10V) reverse currents. The nanowire diodes show a strong photoresponse, with the current–voltage characteristics becoming ohmic under ultraviolet illumination (366 nm light). The on-off current ratio of the diodes at 0.15∕−5V was ∼6. These results show the ability to manipulate the electron transport in nanoscale ZnO devices.