Foto: Thor BalkhedZnO with its excellent electro-mechanical coupling properties is among others being realized in our research on nanomechanics. Namely piezoelectricity based on ZnO nano-wires grown on different substrates is an active research area. After the careful growth of special vertical well aligned ZnO nanowires, mechanical properties are being investigated using different techniques, among which nano-indentation has been used the most frequently.
Critical force that a single nano-wire can withstand is carefully investigated to understand the mechanical applied force limits of our nano-wires before using it as piezoelectric components. This is then followed by the design of the electro-mechanical device based on these nano-wires. Indeed this is another challenging task. Our aim is develop a nano-generator which provides an efficiency of at least 30%.
Utilizing these piezoelectric harvesters, we aim to develop self-powered systems (for different applications) relying on ambient low frequency mechanical energy available around us.
Figures and pictures:
Electroluminescence spectrum of a ZnO nanowires/p-GaN LD. The inserts show a cross-sectional SEM of the LED and a digital photograph displaying the emitted light for forward and reverse biases.
