Electrical characteristics of Pt-ZnO Schottky nano-contact

The electrical characteristics of Pt-ZnO Schottky nano-contact have been studied. Well aligned ZnO nanorod arrays were synthesized by two-step wet-chemical method. A Pt-coated conducting probe of atomic force microscope was placed on the head face of the ZnO nanorod, thereby forming a Pt-ZnO nano-contact. The I-V characteristic curve shows that the Pt-ZnO nano-contact exhibits rectifying effect, like a Schottky diode with an ideality factor of 3.2 and a reverse-bias breakdown voltage more than -10 V. The study suggests that a high electric field is induced on the ZnO beneath the contact point when a bias voltage is applied, hence, the Schottky barrier thickness is decreased, and results in easier tunneling across the Pt-ZnO interface and a large ideality factor.