ZnO/polyaniline based inorganic/organic hybrid structure: Electrical and photoconductivity properties

Single layer ZnO/polyaniline (PANI) inorganic/organic hybrid structure fabricated on glass substrate by depositing polyaniline film on the sol-gel ZnO thin film shows a rectifying behavior indicating the formation of a diode. The current transport mechanism is modeled through an energy band diagram. The heterojunction is sensitive to UV illumination. The photo-to-dark current ratio of the junction is about 46 for -5 V bias. The photoresponse parameters of the diode are found to be better than those of only ZnO film of similar thickness. The results indicate that the ZnO/PANI hybrid structure might be promising for the UV photodetection applications. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.