Current–Voltage Characteristics of ZnO Nanowires Under Uniaxial Loading

The charge transport in zinc-oxide piezosemiconductive nanowires under purely vertical compressive or tensile strains is investigated. For simplicity, only the additional band bending originated by the piezoelectric charges has been accounted for. Moreover, a constant volumetric piezoelectric charge density is assumed, distributed within a maximum distance δ_piezo from the two junctions between the metal ends and the nanowire. Examples demonstrate that the carrier concentration, the energy conduction band profile, and the current-voltage characteristics significantly depend on δ_piezo. Therefore, we propose the use of current- voltage measurements to obtain information on δ_piezo in strained piezosemiconductors.