Tungsten trioxide (WO3) is always oxygen-deficient or non-stoichiometric under atmospheric conditions. Positively charged oxygen vacancies prefer to drift as well as electrons when the electric field is strong enough, which will alter the distribution of oxygen vacancies and then endow WO3 with memristive properties. In Au/WO3 nanowire/Au sandwich structures with two ohmic contacts, the axial distribution of oxygen vacancies and then the electrical transport properties can be more easily modulated by bias voltage. The threshold electric field for oxygen vacancy drifting in single-crystal hexagonal WO3 nanowire is about 106 V/m, one order of magnitude less than that in its granular film. At elevated temperatures, the oxygen vacancy drifts and then the memristive effect can be enhanced remarkably. When the two metallic contacts are asymmetric, the WO3 nanowire devices even demonstrate good rectifying characteristic at elevated temperatures. Based on the drift of oxygen vacancies, nanoelectronic devices such as memristor, rectifier, and two-terminal resistive random access memory can be fabricated on individual WO3 nanowires.
One-dimensional Mn-ZnSe nanostructures with high crystallite quality were synthesized by the CVD method. Transmission electron microscopy was used to study the defect state, crystal lattice and growth direction of as-prepared nanostructures. Raman spectra under varied excitation wavelengths confirmed the dopant modes of Mn(II) and the inhomogeneity. The micro-photoluminescence (PL) spectra of individual nanostructures under CW laser excitation with different powers showed the dominant trapped state emission with periodic multi-peaks. The selected peak mapping indicated that there were many integrated Fabry-Perot cavities and whispering gallery mode cavities within the nanowires/nanoneedles and nanobelts, respectively, which can be accounted for by inhomogeneous optical phases in the Mn-ZnSe nanostructure. The phase may be introduced by both Mn doping and structural relaxation. The micro-PL spectra under nanosecond pulse laser excitation produce low threshold lasing lines near the band edge of Mn-ZnSe nanostructures. The lasing occurs due to the dominant interaction between bound excitons at high density, evidenced by its appearance close to the LO phonon replica. The belts show much stronger lasing emission due to larger 2D coherent space than the wires due to the inhomogeneity induced by the doping process. The different optical behavior with changing excitation pulses may find applications in future photonic devices of II-VI nanostructures.
In a two-terminal Au/hexagonal WO3 nanowire/Au device, ions drifting or carriers self-trapping under external electrical field will modulate the Schottky barriers between the nanowire and electrodes, and then result in memristive effect. When there are water molecules adsorbed on the surface of WO3 nanowire, hydrogen ions will generate near the positively-charged electrode and transport in the condensed water film, which will enhance the memristive performance characterized by analogic resistive switching remarkably. When the bias voltage is swept repeatedly under high relative humidity level, hydrogen ions will accumulate on the surface and then implant into the lattice of the WO3 nanowire, which leads to a transition from semiconducting WO3 nanowire to metallic HxWO3 nanowire. This insulator-metal transition can be realized more easily after enough electron-hole pairs being excited by laser illumination. The concentration of hydrogen ions in HxWO3 nanowire will decrease when the device is exposed to oxygen atmosphere or the bias voltage is swept in atmosphere with low relative humidity. By modulating the concentration of hydrogen ions, conductive hydrogen tungsten bronze filament might form or rupture near electrodes when the polarity of applied voltage changes, which will endow the device with memristive performance characterized by digital resistive switching.
Infrared photodetectors have attracted great interest due to their wide range of applications. (TaSe4)2I nanowires were prepared by the scotch-tape mechanical exfoliation method, and optoelectronic properties are systematically investigated. The (TaSe4)2I photodetector shows superior performance under the leading role of the photo-bolometric effect. Remarkably, the prefabricated photodetector recorded a superior responsivity of 0.792 A W−1 and a high external quantum efficiency of 100.259% under the condition of near-infrared light. These excellent properties suggest that (TaSe4)2I is a highly competitive candidate for high-performance near-infrared photodetectors.
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