Optical and current transport properties of CuO/ZnO nanocoral p-n heterostructure hydrothermally synthesized at low temperature

We demonstrate the synthesis and investigate the electrical and optical characteristics of 'nanocorals' (NCs) composed of CuO/ZnO grown at low temperature through the hydrothermal approach. High-density CuO nanostructures (NSs) were selectively grown on ZnO nanorods (NRs). The synthesized NCs were used to fabricate p-n heterojunctions that were investigated by the current density-voltage (J-V) and the capacitance-voltage (C-V) techniques. It was found that the NC heterojunctions exhibit a well-defined diode behavior with a threshold voltage of about 1.52 V and relatively high rectification factor of similar to 760. The detailed forward J-V characteristics revealed that the current transport is controlled by an ohmic behavior for V <= 0.15 V, whereas at moderate voltages 1.46 <= V < 1.5 the current follows a J alpha exp(beta V) relationship. At higher voltages (>= 1.5 V) the current follows the relation J alpha V-2, indicating that the space-charge-limited current mechanism is the dominant current transport. The C-V measurement indicated that the NC diode has an abrupt junction. The grown CuO/ZnO NCs exhibited a broad light absorption range that is covering the UV and the entire visible parts of the spectrum.