Impact of the GaN nanowire polarity on energy harvesting

Noelle Gogneau (1) , Pascal Chrétien (2) , Elisabeth Galopin (1) , Stephane Guilet (1) , Laurent Travers (1) , Jean-Christophe Harmand (1) , Frédéric Houzé (2)

1 LPN - Laboratoire de photonique et de nanostructures
2 LGEP - Laboratoire de génie électrique de Paris

We investigate the piezoelectric generation properties of GaN nanowires (NWs) by atomic force microscopy equipped with a Resiscope module for electrical measurements. By correlating the topography profile of the NWs with the recorded voltage peaks generated by these nanostructures in response to their deformation, we demonstrate the influence of their polarity on the rectifying behavior of the Schottky diode formed between the NWs and the electrode of measurement. These results establish that the piezo-generation mechanism crucially depends on the structural characteristics of the NWs.

Domaines: Physique [physics]

Noelle Gogneau, Pascal Chrétien, Elisabeth Galopin, Stephane Guilet, Laurent Travers, et al.. Impact of the GaN nanowire polarity on energy harvesting. Applied Physics Letters, 2014, 104 (21), pp.213105. ⟨10.1063/1.4880101⟩. ⟨hal-01096617⟩