Transparent ultraviolet (UV) detectors with nanoheterojunctions (NHJs) of p-type NiO and n-type ZnO nanowires (ZnO-NWs) were successfully fabricated using a DC sputtering system and a hydrothermal process, respectively. After annealing in nitrogen ambient, the near-band-edge emission to deep level emission ratio (NBE/DLE) of ZnO-NWs gradually increased as the temperature increased and reached a maximum of 28.9 at a temperature setting of 500 °C. In contrast, after annealing in oxygen atmosphere, the NBE/DLE of ZnO-NWs initially increased from 1.2 to 5.9 and then decreased to 3.2. At a reverse bias of 2 V, the devices with the 500-°C-N2-annealed ZnO-NWs exhibited better sensitivity (JUV/JDark = 5.65; JVisible/JDark = 1.35) to UV light (365 nm, 0.3 mW/cm2) than those with the as-grown ZnO-NWs (JUV/JDark = 4.98; JVisible/JDark = 3.82) because the structural defects in ZnO-NWs were effectively eliminated after annealing in nitrogen ambient at 500 °C.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.