Thermoelectric characterization of piezoelectric ZnO nanowires

ZnO is receiving a considerable attention for the development of novel cost-effective one-dimensional nanostructures with outstanding functional properties for applications in electronics and energy. We propose a fully-coupled thermomechanical-electric scheme to study the current-voltage characteristic of piezoelectric ZnO NWs under a purely vertical compressive/tensile strain. Our results confirm that the thermal transport processes deeply affect the behavior of devices for piezoelectric-piezotronic applications and provides remarkable insights into the underlying physics.