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Fabrication and characterization of homostructured photodiodes with Li-doped ZnO nanorods

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Abstract

In this study, the ultraviolet (UV) photodiodes with homogeneous zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) were investigated. The lithium (Li) doped ZnO NRs were synthesized on a indium tin oxide glass substrate via a hydrothermal method, the samples showed stable homostructures and characteristics as p-type Li–ZnO NRs. Then, the p-type NRs were stacked onto an n-type aluminum zinc oxide film to form a p–n homojunction and reduced the lattice mismatch of the photodiodes. Three different sizes of the fabricated homostructured photodiodes (0.5 × 0.5, 0.75 × 0.75, and 1 × 1 mm2) each doped with 0.01 M Li were examined for their photo-electronic properties. Under a 380 nm UV illumination and 5 V applied bias, the results showed that the photoresponsivities (A/W) of the three photodiodes were 21.34, 27.94, and 34.87, respectively. In addition, the device having a 1 × 1 mm2 area produced a significantly better photovoltaic property.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan with Project Numbers: MOST 107-2221-E-150-032, MOST 108-2221-E-024-006, and MOST 108-2221-E-150-013-MY2. The authors would also like to thank the assistance of the Common Laboratory for Micro/Nano Science and Technology of the National Formosa University for some of the measurement equipment used in this work, the Center for Micro/Nano Science and Technology of National Cheng Kung University for device characterization, and B. J. Chiou for device fabrication.

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Correspondence to Yen-Lin Chu or Liang-Wen Ji.

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Huang, CH., Chu, YL., Ji, LW. et al. Fabrication and characterization of homostructured photodiodes with Li-doped ZnO nanorods. Microsyst Technol 28, 369–375 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-020-04854-1

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