Recent Advances in the Piezo-Phototronic Effect for Optoelectronics

Wurtzite nanomaterials, such as ZnO, GaN, and InN, have become a subject of great scientific and technological interest as they simultaneously have piezoelectric and semiconductor properties. In particular, the piezoelectric potential (piezopotential) created by dynamic straining in the nanowires drives a transient flow of current in the external load, converting mechanical energy into electricity. Further, the piezopotential can be used to control the carrier generation, transport, separation, and/or recombination at the metalsemiconductor junction or p-n junction, which is called the piezophototronic effect. This paper reviews the recent advances on the piezophototronic effect to better use the piezophototronic effect to control the carrier generation, transport, separation and/or recombination for improving the performance of optoelectronic devices, such as photon detectors, solar cells and LEDs. This paper also discusses several research and design studies that have improved the output performance of optoelectronic devices.