A high performance piezoelectric hetero-junction based on the configuration reform on interfacial potential barrier

In this paper, the barrier region of a mixed hetero-junction consisting of a p-type Si and an n-type ZnO was fully opened by abandoning the depletion layer approximation in advance. The barrier configuration was reconstructed by the artificial potential barrier based on a new fully coupled model in which the interaction between physical fields and charge carriers was taken into account. Then, we put forward an interesting design idea of elevating the mechanical regulation performance of a PN junction by manufacturing it with a third-generation piezoelectric semiconductor and a narrow bandgap semiconductor. It is through the deformation of the third-generation piezoelectric semiconductor on one side under mechanical loadings to excite polarization charges at the PN interface such that the movement of charge carriers in the narrow bandgap semiconductor on the other side is able to be tuned by the interface polarization charges. Besides, it is found a specific current-stress characteristic for such a mixed hetero-junction, which will present three stages, i.e., rising stage, platform stage and falling stage. The rising stage is caused by the improving recombination rate, which can be used as a high sensitivity stress sensor (output current improved by more than 10 times in a small stress). Oppositely, the falling stage is caused by the weakened recombination rate due to carrier type-inversion, which can be used to determine overload (output current reduced dramatically when the stress increased to a specific value). Finally, the platform stage is caused by the competition of the above two cases. At this stage, the device operates very stable and can resist the external perturbation. Obviously, the study possesses referential significance to the design and mechanical tuning on performance of piezotronic devices.