Nanoscale optical and electrical characterizations of ZnO nanostructures by near-field microscopy

The interest in the recent years for nanostructure studies has led to the development of a wide palette of characterization techniques such as the electrical modes in scanning probe microscopy (STM, EFM, KPFM...). Optical characterization at nanoscale remains nevertheless a challenge especially for wide gap semiconductors where high energy is required. In this presentation, we will present our work focusing in the development and the improvement of near-field microscopy techniques to investigate nanoscale properties of ZnO nanostructures and related semiconducting objects. For the optical characterization, cathodoluminescence (CL) studies present many advantages over the classical photoluminescence experiments for ZnO analysis. This contribution presents the development of a scanning near-field cathodoluminescence microscope where a bimorph piezoelectric cantilever is simultaneously used for both actuation and oscillation amplitude detection. Operated inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM) it offers the possibility of performing simultaneous topography and cathodoluminescence charting of the sample surface additionally to the SEM imaging with a resolution in the order of several tenths of nanometers. Different measurements of ZnO nanostructures and related objects will be presented to show the potentiality of our optical characterization setup. Complementary STEM-CL measurements at higher beam energy were performed on the ZnO nanowires confirming the good quality of the investigated nanostructures. As for the electrical characterization, we will focus on the local surface potential mapping of ZnO nanowires used for photoconduction using Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy. While ZnO nanowire photoconduction gains as high as 1010 in the UV region were reported, several issues come into play when it comes to making a precise measurement of a single nanowire. An important issue is the good quality of the injecting contacts on the nanowire and the reproducibility of its characteristics which can be made using KPFM.