Enhanced fabrication process of zinc oxide nanowires for optoelectronics

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires (NWs) based ultraviolet (UV) sensors have been fabricated using different assembly techniques to form functional structures, aiming at the improvement of the performance of NW-based sensors for optoelectronic applications. NWs with diameters and lengths varying between 90–870nm and 2–20μm, respectively, were synthesized by controlling the growth conditions in a chemical vapor transport system. Optical properties of NWs were studied by means of transmission spectroscopy. Electrical properties of single ZnO NW-based sensors were analyzed in dark and under UV illumination (at photon wavelength of λ<370nm) as a function of the NW diameter. Results of the study indicate that reduction of the NW diameter below 200nm leads to an improvement of the photocurrent (at λ<370nm) up to 102μA and a decrease of the decay time around 150s. These enhancements may help to improve the performance of ZnO-based optoelectronic devices.