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Piezotronic effect enhanced Schottky-contact ZnO micro/nanowire humidity sensors
Caofeng Pan1(
), Zhong Lin Wang1,2()
), Zhong Lin Wang1,2()Abstract
A ZnO micro/nanowire has been utilized to fabricate Schottky-contacted humidity sensors based on a metal–semiconductor–metal (M–S–M) structure. By means of the piezotronic effect, the signal level, sensitivity and sensing resolution of the humidity sensor were significantly enhanced when applying an external strain. Since a higher Schottky barrier markedly reduces the signal level, while a lower Schottky barrier decreases the sensor sensitivity due to increased ohmic transport, a 0.22% compressive strain was found to optimize the performance of the humidity sensor, with the largest responsivity being 1, 240%. The physical mechanism behind the observed mechanical–electrical behavior was carefully studied by using band structure diagrams. This work provides a promising way to significantly enhance the overall performance of a Schottky-contact structured micro/nanowire sensor.
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Pages 1083-1091
Cite this article:
Hu G, Zhou R, Yu R, et al. Piezotronic effect enhanced Schottky-contact ZnO micro/nanowire humidity sensors. Nano Research, 2014, 7(7): 1083-1091. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0471-6
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