Piezotronically enhanced detection of protein kinases at ZnO micro/nanowire heterojunctions

One-dimensional semiconductors can be combined with functional molecules to form planar van der Waals heterojunctions whose charge transport behavior is influenced by the heterojunction geometry, providing a new degree of freedom to engineer device functions. Here, we proposed a Schottky contacted single ZnO micro/nanowire sensor for detecting protein kinases activity in this paper. Protein kinases activity was investigated recur to the specific identification of ZnO to phosphorylated peptide and piezotronic effect on the performance of the phosphorylated peptide sensor with different compressive strain. The strain-induced piezoelectric polarization charges can adjust the Schottky barrier height, which can effectively enhance the overall performance of the designed device. Under the positive bias, the relative current changes at phosphorylated peptide concentrations of 10 nM enhanced from 3% to 66%, respectively, as the applied compressive strain increased from 0.00% to 0.72%. This work provides a promising piezotronically enhanced Schottky contacted single ZnO micro/nanowire-based protein kinases sensor. A detailed understanding of how the electrostatics affect charge transport in nanowire/molecule heterojunctions inform the design of future van der Waals heterojunction detectors and transistors, which is relevant in the design of nanowire applications.