Abstract
GaN nanowires are promising building blocks for future nanoelectronics, optoelectronic devices, and nanogenerators. Here, we report on strong piezoelectricity in individual single-crystal GaN nanowires revealed by direct measurement of the piezoelectric constant using piezo-response force microscopy. Our experimental results show that individual c-axis GaN nanowires, with a characteristic dimension as small as 65 nm, show a shear piezoelectric constant of tid15~ 10 pm/V, which is several times that measured in bulk. The revealed strong piezoelectricity could open promising opportunities for application of GaN nanowires in nanowire-based sensors and generators for self-powered nanodevices.
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Acknowledgments
We acknowledge Kris Bertness and Norman Sanford of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Optoelectronic Division for providing the nanowire samples. HDE acknowledges the support of the NSF through awards DMR-0907196 and EEC-0647560 (NSF-NSEC).
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Minary-Jolandan, M., Bernal, R.A. & Espinosa, H.D. Strong piezoelectricity in individual GaN nanowires. MRS Communications 1, 45–48 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2011.14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2011.14