ZnO nanobridge devices fabricated on carbonized photoresist

Abstract

Devices based on nanowires [1, 2] and nanobridges [3, 4] offer great promise for photonic and sensing applications [5]. However, the development of scalable processes for connecting nanowires (NWs) to metallic electrodes remains a challenge. Recently, the use of carbonized photoresist (C-PR) was reported as a novel nucleation layer for producing selective growth of ZnO nanowires from evaporated ZnO powder [6,7]. It has been reported that the resistivity of C-PR films is comparable to ITO [6], a frequently used wide band gap conductor, suggesting that C-PR could serve as a built-in electrode for contact to NW devices. In this work, we demonstrate 1) that the C-PR method can be used to form ZnO nanobridge structures, 2) that C-PR can provide electrical contact to these nanobridge devices, and 3) operation of these nanobridges as bottom gate transistors and UV sensors. These results show that the C-PR method holds great promise due to the ease of synthesis and patterning of the C-PR layer and the potential for direct electrical integration of NWs into Si based CMOS processes.