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ZnO (Zinc oxide). by Alexander Glavtchev. Why is ZnO interesting?. Widely used: medicinal purposes (colds, rashes, antiseptics, sunscreen lotions) used in manufacturing of rubber as rubber cure (or as filler) pigment for paints and coatings
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ZnO (Zinc oxide) by Alexander Glavtchev
Why is ZnO interesting? Widely used: • medicinal purposes (colds, rashes, antiseptics, sunscreen lotions) • used in manufacturing of rubber as rubber cure (or as filler) • pigment for paints and coatings • in electronics, used mainly in laser diodes, LED’s, transparent thin film coatings, and various piezoelectrics Bright future: • shows promising signs in the field of nanotechnology, UV detecors, nanoscale detectors and actuators • direct bandgap semiconductor that could replace silicon as the main substrate in chip manufacturing (if it can be easily/cheaply p-doped) • dual semiconductor and piezoelectric properties!!
Properties Melting Point: 1975 °C High electron mobility: >100cm2/Vs High exciton binding energy: ~60meV (electron-hole binding energy) Direct bandgap: 3.3eV
Piezoelectric Properties The output amplitude is related to the input signal by: Lithium niobate (LiNbO3) and Lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) are currently two very-widely used piezoelectric crystals due to their high piezoelectric strain coefficients.
Piezoelectric Properties • Can produce voltage output from applied stress (strain), or produce stress when voltage is applied. • Nanobelts and various nanoscale features of ZnO give higher piezoelectric constants (likely due to less dislocations and the impurity-free single-crystalline structures). • Piezoelectrics used in: sensors (acoustic and electronic, as pickups in electric guitars, detection/generation of sonar waves, etc.); actuators (high-precision motors, loudspeakers, atomic force microscope probe control); possible future use in vibration and noise reduction (housing, automobiles).
Semiconductor Properties • Zinc oxide is a direct wide-bandgap semiconductor (~3.3-3.4eV). • Allows for efficient photon emission, as in LED’s or laser diodes (rather than phonon emission with energy loss and heat generation). • Can easily be n-doped with aluminum, indium, or extra zinc. • Possesses high electron mobility and photoconductivity – can help speed up currents in semiconductor devices. Drawbacks: • p-doping is currently very difficult and inefficient and has prevented mass manufacturing of ZnO-based wafers. • High-purity ZnO grown on substrates other than sapphire has been challenging.
Nano-Structures • Zinc oxide shows great potential for nanoscale electro-mechanical fabrication. • Highly-symmetric, singly-crystalline nanoneedles, nanowires, nanobelts, nanorings, nanohelixes, nanocombs, etc. • Hexagonal (wurtzite) structure helps lattice-matching and controlled growth. • Positive Zn surfaces and negative O surfaces create electric dipoles that facilitate polarization growth along certain directions and planes under applied voltage and temperature.
Summary • ZnO displays dual semiconductor and piezoelectric properties. • Used in laser diodes and LED’s. • Potential to be used as a wide-bandgap semiconductor. • Widely used in many other fields (medicine, farming, pigments). • Zinc oxide nanostructure growth is heavily researched presently. • The substance likely has the largest variety of nanostructures (and their associated properties) among all known materials. • It’s hexagonal lattice can easily match catalysts’ lattice structure and facilitate controlled growth patterns. • Structures like nanowires, nanobelts and nanorings are of great interest in photonics research, optoelectronics, nanotechnology, and biomedicine.
Sources • Nanoarchitectures of semiconducting and piezoelectric zinc oxide. JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS 97, 044304 s2005d • Piezoelectric Characterization of Individual Zinc Oxide Nanobelt Probed by Piezoresponse Force Microscope. Nano Lett.,Vol. 4, No. 4, 2004 • Nanostructures of zinc oxide. Zhong Lin Wang. Materials Today, June 2004. • Photonic band structure of ZnO photonic crystal slab laser. JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS 98, 103102 2005 • Deformation-Free Single-Crystal Nanohelixes of Polar Nanowires. Nano Lett.,Vol. 4, No. 7, 2004 • Zinc oxide hexagram whiskers. APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS 88, 093101 2006 • Zinc Oxide Nanostructures: Growth, Properties and Applications. J. Phys.: Condens. Matter16 (2004) R829–R858 • Nitrogen doped zinc oxide thin film.http://repositories.cdlib.org/lbnl/LBNL-54116, 2003 • www.wikipedia.com