Effects of piezopotential spatial distribution on local contact dictated transport property of ZnO micro/nanowires

We present a study on the effect of deformation induced piezoelectric potential (piezopotential) in a ZnO micro/nanowire on its electrical transport properties by choosing different contacting locations on the wire to form a metal-ZnO contact. When a ZnO wire is under nonuniform deformation, the local piezopotential distribution at different positions shows significant effect on and distinct trend of variation in the charge carrier transport characteristic. This study has a broad impact on understanding the characteristics of piezotronic devices based on nanowires of wurtzite materials by controlling local contact position and contact size.