Current-voltage characteristics of n-AZO/p-Si-rod heterojunction

Al doped ZnO (AZO) thin films were deposited on Si substrates with rod-shaped-surface by pulsed laser deposition method (PLD). Si-rods were prepared through chemical etching. To analyze the influence on the formation of the rod structure, samples with various chemical etching conditions such as AgNO3/HF ratio, etching time, and solution temperature were prepared. The morphology of Si-rod structures were examined by FE-SEM. Fig. 1 shows a typical structure of n-AZO/p-Si-rod juncions. The fabricated n-AZO/p-Si-rod devices exhibited p-n diode current-voltage characteristics. We compared the I-V characteristics of n-AZO/p-Si-rod devices with the samples without Si-rod structure.