Mechanical and Electrical Properties of ZnO-Nanowire/Si-Substrate Junctions Studied by Scanning Probe Microscopy

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy was used to check the tunneling I-V characteristics of junctions formed by n-ZnO nanowires deposited on Si substrates with n-and p-type electrical conductivity (i.e.n-ZnO nanowire/ n-Si and n-ZnO nanowire/p-Si junctions, respectively).Simultaneously, several phenomena which influence the measured I-V spectra were studied by atomic force microscopy.These influencing factors are: the deposition density of the nanowires, the possibility of surface modification by tip movement (difference in attraction forces between nanowires and the p-Si and n-Si) and the aging of the surface.