Growth and Properties of Aligned ZnO Nanowires and Their Applications to n-ZnO/p-Si Heterojunction Diodes

Aligned n-ZnO nanowires were synthesized via simple thermal evaporation process by using metallic zinc powder in the presence of oxygen on p-silicon (Si) substrate. The as-synthesized aligned ZnO nanowires were characterized in terms of their structural and optical properties by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction process (XRD) and room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) properties. The detailed structural and optical studies revealed that the as-grown nanowires are single crystalline with the wurtzite hexagonal phase and exhibit good optical properties. From application point of view, the as-grown aligned n-ZnO nanowires on p-Si substrates were used to fabricate heterojunction diodes. The fabricated heterojunction diodes exhibited good electrical (I-V) properties with the turn-on voltage of similar to 1.0 V. A temperature-dependant (from 25 degrees C similar to 130 degrees C), I-V characteristics for the fabricated device was also demonstrated in this paper. The presented results demonstrate that the simply grown aligned n-ZnO nanowires on p-Si substrate can be efficiently used for the fabrication of efficient heterojunction devices.