Phosphorus-Doped P-Type ZnO Nanowires and Their Electrical Properties

Among variety of 1-D materials, ZnO nanowires (NWs) has attracted extensive attention due to its specific physical properties. For wide-ranging applications in nanoscale electronic devices, p-type ZnO NWs even have excellent electrical properties. In this work, ZnO NWs were synthesized with P₂O₅ as a dopant source via the hydrothermal method which used zinc acetate and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) mixed solution as the precursor. The morphology and aspect ratio of aligned phosphorus-doped ZnO NWs arrays were examined by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The effect of various phosphorus-doped concentration were systematically discussed. The X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and the high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM) image indicated that the NWs are single-crystalline with <0001> growth direction. The results of temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) spectra revealed that both phosphorus-doped and undoped ZnO NWs show a UV light emission (370–380 nm) and a defect-related emission (400–750 nm). The phosphorus-doped ZnO NWs enhanced defect-related emission intensity. The electrical transport properties and field effect transistors (FETs) confirmed that p-type conductivity of the single phosphorus-doped ZnO NW. The phosphorus-doped ZnO NWs were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal method and showed characteristics of the p-type conductivity.