The fabrication of a ZnO nanowire/La0.65Sr0.35MnO3 heterojunction and characterization of its rectifying behavior

We have fabricated a ZnO nanowire (NW)/La0.65Sr0.35MnO3 (LSMO) p-n heterojunction by growing the NWs by an easy aqueous chemical route on a pressed powdered pellet of LSMO. The NWs have hexagonal wurtzite structure with good optical emission properties. The current-voltage (I-V) curves of a single NW junction measured by a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) probe show excellent rectifying behavior with rectification ratio ∼40, which is comparable to the characteristics of the junction made by large area NW array junctions. Different voltage-dependent current transport mechanisms have been found, which are explained through the use of a band diagram.