Probing electronic properties of molecular engineered zinc oxide nanowires with photoelectron spectroscopy

ZnO nanowires (NWs) are emerging as key elements for new lasing, photovoltaic and sensing applications but elucidation of their fundamental electronic properties has been hampered by a dearth of characterization tools capable of probing single nanowires. Herein, ZnO NWs were synthesized in solution and integrated into a low energy photoelectron spectroscopy system, where quantitative optical measurements of the NW work function and Fermi level location within the band gap were collected. Next, the NWs were decorated with several dipolar self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and control over the electronic properties is demonstrated, yielding a completely tunable hybrid electronic material. Using this new metrology approach, a host of other extraordinary interfacial phenomena could be explored on nanowires such as spatial dopant profiling or heterostructures.