Self‐Compensated Insulating ZnO‐Based Piezoelectric Nanogenerators

Remarkable enhancement of piezoelectric power output from a nanogenerator (NG) based on a zinc oxide (ZnO) thin fi lm is achieved via native defect control. A large number of unintentionally induced point defects that act as n-type carriers in ZnO have a strong infl uence on screening the piezoelectric potential into a piezoelectric NG. Here, additional oxygen molecules bombarded into ZnO lead to oxygen-rich conditions, and the n-type conductivity of ZnO is decreased dramatically. The acceptor-type point defects such as zinc vacancies created during the deposition process trap n-type carriers occurring from donor-type point defects through a self-compensation mechanism. This unique insulating-type ZnO thin fi lm-based NGs (IZ-NGs) generates output voltage around 1.5 V that is over ten times higher than that of an n-type ZnO thin fi lm-based NG (around 0.1 V). In addition, it is found that the power output performance of the IZ-NG can be further increased by hybridizing with a p-type polymer (poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl):phenylC 61 -butyric acid methyl ester) via surface free carrier neutralization.

[1]  Chennupati Jagadish,et al.  Temperature dependent photoluminescence in oxygen ion implanted and rapid thermally annealed ZnO/ZnMgO multiple quantum wells , 2007 .

[2]  Zhong Lin Wang,et al.  Engineering of efficiency limiting free carriers and an interfacial energy barrier for an enhancing piezoelectric generation , 2013 .

[3]  S. Jokela,et al.  Defects in ZnO , 2009 .

[4]  V. Walle,et al.  Hydrogen as a cause of doping in zinc oxide , 2000 .

[5]  David C. Look,et al.  Self-compensation in semiconductors: the Zn-vacancy in Ga-doped ZnO , 2011 .

[6]  Jianda Shao,et al.  Influence of oxygen partial pressure on the structure and photoluminescence of direct current reactive magnetron sputtering ZnO thin films , 2005 .

[7]  Zhong Lin Wang,et al.  High-resolution electroluminescent imaging of pressure distribution using a piezoelectric nanowire LED array , 2013, Nature Photonics.

[8]  Young-Jun Park,et al.  Sound‐Driven Piezoelectric Nanowire‐Based Nanogenerators , 2010, Advanced materials.

[9]  Pallab Bhattacharya,et al.  Role of strain and growth conditions on the growth front profile of InxGa1−xAs on GaAs during the pseudomorphic growth regime , 1988 .

[10]  Eric Cross,et al.  Materials science: Lead-free at last , 2004, nature.

[11]  Jae-Young Choi,et al.  Fully Rollable Transparent Nanogenerators Based on Graphene Electrodes , 2010, Advanced materials.

[12]  Zhong Lin Wang,et al.  Piezo-phototronic effect enhanced visible/UV photodetector of a carbon-fiber/ZnO-CdS double-shell microwire. , 2013, ACS nano.

[13]  Jeonghwa Yang,et al.  Ferromagnetism induced by Zn vacancy defect and lattice distortion in ZnO , 2009 .

[14]  Han‐Ki Kim,et al.  Charge‐Generating Mode Control in High‐Performance Transparent Flexible Piezoelectric Nanogenerators , 2011 .

[15]  K. Lee,et al.  Reliable operation of a nanogenerator under ultraviolet light via engineering piezoelectric potential , 2013 .

[16]  Yan Zhang,et al.  Surface free-carrier screening effect on the output of a ZnO nanowire nanogenerator and its potential as a self-powered active gas sensor , 2013, Nanotechnology.

[17]  Chao-Nan Xu,et al.  Electro‐Mechano‐Optical Conversions in Pr3+‐Doped BaTiO3–CaTiO3 Ceramics , 2005 .

[18]  Dukhyun Choi,et al.  p-Type polymer-hybridized high-performance piezoelectric nanogenerators. , 2012, Nano letters.

[19]  Takafumi Yao,et al.  Plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy of ZnO on c -plane sapphire: Growth and characterization , 1998 .

[20]  Sang Mo Yang,et al.  Ferroelectricity in highly ordered arrays of ultra-thin-walled Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 nanotubes composed of nanometer-sized perovskite crystallites. , 2008, Nano letters.

[21]  Sung Yun Chung,et al.  All‐Solution‐Processed Flexible Thin Film Piezoelectric Nanogenerator , 2012, Advanced materials.

[22]  Long Lin,et al.  Super-Flexible Nanogenerator for Energy Harvesting from Gentle Wind and as an Active Deformation Sensor , 2013 .

[23]  R. Rawat,et al.  Oxygen rich p-type ZnO thin films using wet chemical route with enhanced carrier concentration by temperature-dependent tuning of acceptor defects , 2011 .

[24]  Zhong Lin Wang,et al.  Power generation with laterally packaged piezoelectric fine wires. , 2009, Nature nanotechnology.

[25]  Sang-Hun Jeong,et al.  Photoluminescence dependence of ZnO films grown on Si(100) by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering on the growth ambient , 2003 .

[26]  Z. G. Wang,et al.  Green luminescence originates from surface defects in ZnO nanoparticles , 2006 .

[27]  Zhongju Wang.  Self‐Powered Nanosensors: Self‐Powered Nanosensors and Nanosystems (Adv. Mater. 2/2012) , 2012 .

[28]  S. Logothetidis,et al.  Surface kinetics and subplantation phenomena affecting the texture, morphology, stress, and growth evolution of titanium nitride films , 2004 .

[29]  Geon-Tae Hwang,et al.  Piezoelectric BaTiO₃ thin film nanogenerator on plastic substrates. , 2010, Nano letters.

[30]  Vijay Kumar,et al.  Effect of intrinsic stress on the optical properties of nanostructured ZnO thin films grown by rf magnetron sputtering , 2008 .

[31]  K. G. Saw,et al.  Self-compensation in ZnO thin films: An insight from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy analyses , 2007 .

[32]  D. Look,et al.  Evidence for native-defect donors in n-type ZnO. , 2005, Physical review letters.

[33]  Anderson Janotti,et al.  Fundamentals of zinc oxide as a semiconductor , 2009 .

[34]  Long Lin,et al.  Replacing a Battery by a Nanogenerator with 20 V Output , 2012, Advanced materials.

[35]  Yong Ding,et al.  Piezo-phototronic effect enhanced visible and ultraviolet photodetection using a ZnO-CdS core-shell micro/nanowire. , 2012, ACS nano.

[36]  Zhong Lin Wang,et al.  Self-powered nanowire devices. , 2010, Nature nanotechnology.

[37]  Sang‐Woo Kim,et al.  Energy harvesting based on semiconducting piezoelectric ZnO nanostructures , 2012 .

[38]  Caofeng Pan,et al.  Enhanced Performance of a ZnO Nanowire‐Based Self‐Powered Glucose Sensor by Piezotronic Effect , 2013 .

[39]  X Wang,et al.  X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and auger electron spectroscopy studies of Al-doped ZnO films , 2000 .

[40]  Sang‐Woo Kim,et al.  Mechanically Powered Transparent Flexible Charge‐Generating Nanodevices with Piezoelectric ZnO Nanorods , 2009 .

[41]  Zhong Lin Wang,et al.  Piezotronics and piezo-phototronics – From single nanodevices to array of devices and then to integrated functional system , 2013 .

[42]  Zhong Lin Wang,et al.  Piezotronic effect on the sensitivity and signal level of Schottky contacted proactive micro/nanowire nanosensors. , 2013, ACS nano.

[43]  Ju-Hyuck Lee,et al.  Piezoelectric two-dimensional nanosheets/anionic layer heterojunction for efficient direct current power generation , 2013, Scientific Reports.

[44]  E. Traversa,et al.  Ce³+ ions determine redox-dependent anti-apoptotic effect of cerium oxide nanoparticles. , 2011, ACS nano.