We demonstrate the feasibility of using classical atomistic simulations, i.e. molecular dynamics and molecular statics, to study the piezoelectric properties of ZnO using core-shell interatomic potentials. We accomplish this by reporting the piezoelectric constants for ZnO as calculated using two different classical interatomic core-shell potentials: that originally proposed by Binks and Grimes...

The localized coupling between piezoelectric and photoexcitation effects of a ZnO micro/nanowire device has been studied for the first time with the goal of designing and controlling the electrical transport characteristics of the device. The piezoelectric effect tends to raise the height of the local Schottky barrier (SB) at the metal-ZnO contact, while photoexcitation using a light that has e...

Research applications in biomedical science and technology usually require various portable, wearable, easy-to-use, and/or implantable devices that can interface with biological systems. Organic or hybrid organic–inorganic microelectronics and nanoelectronics have long been a possibility. However, these devices require a power source, such as electrochemical cells or piezoelectric, thermoelectr...

Through a process of photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting, we demonstrated an effective strategy for engineering the barrier height of a heterogeneous semiconductor interface by piezoelectric polarization, known as the piezotronic effect. A consistent enhancement or reduction of photocurrent was observed when tensile or compressive strains were applied to the ZnO anode, respectively. The ...

We have demonstrated an innovative approach to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy by piezoelectric zinc oxide nanowire (NW) arrays. The mechanism of the nanogenerator (NG) relies on the coupling of piezoelectric and semiconducting dual properties of ZnO as well as the elegant rectifying function of the Schottky barrier formed between the metal tip and the NW. Alexe et al. have rec...

Wurtzite structures, such as ZnO, GaN, InN and CdS, are piezoelectric semiconductor materials. A piezopotential is formed in the crystal by the piezoelectric charges created by applying a stress. The inner-crystal piezopotential can effectively tune/control the carrier separations and transport processes at the vicinity of a p–n junction or metal–semiconductor contact, which is called the piezo...

This paper reports a miniaturized piezoelectric accelerometer suitable for a small haptic actuator array. The accelerometer is made with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowire (NW) grown on a copper wafer by a hydrothermal process. The size of the accelerometer is 1.5 × 1.5 mm², thus fitting the 1.8 × 1.8 mm² haptic actuator array cell. The detailed fabrication process of the miniaturized accelerometer is i...

Ni-Fe alloy/ZnO nanorod composites were fabricated and the magnetoelectric effect was demonstrated. The ZnO and Ni-Fe alloy serve as the piezoelectric phase and the magnetostrictive phase in the nanocomposite, respectively. Since the nanorod structure possesses the inherent nature of a large surface-to-volume ratio, it greatly enhances the interplay between the piezoelectric and magnetostrictiv...

In this paper, lead free (K0.48,Na0.52)NbO3 (KNN(48-52)) piezoelectric ceramics were made by conventional solid state sintering process. Additives of nano ZnO (n-ZnO), nano CuO (n-CuO) and nano SnO2 (n-SnO2) were used in order to decrease the sintering temperature, as well as modifying the dielectric, piezoelectric and ferroelectric propert...

We report an approach for growing aligned ZnO nanowire arrays with a high degree control over size, orientation, dimensionality, uniformity, and possibly shape. Our method combines e-beam lithography and a low temperature hydrothermal method to achieve patterned and aligned growth of ZnO NWs at <100degreesC on general inorganic substrates, such as Si and GaN, without using catalyst. This approa...