Charge transport in hierarchical α-Fe2O3 nanostructures

Electronic properties of individual polycrystalline alpha-Fe2O3 nanojunctions have been evaluated. By measuring the space charge limited current, the electron mobilities of the nanorods and nanojunctions were estimated. The mobility of the individual nanojunctions was found to be significantly lower than the individual nanorods. The trend clearly associates with the presence of junctions and grain boundaries in the nanorods. Impedance spectroscopy analysis of individual nanojunctions has been carried out to distinguish between the effects of the grain boundaries and the nanojunctions. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3641903]