Fabrication of zinc oxide/ polyaniline (ZnO/PANI) heterojunction and its characterisation at room temperature

We report the formation of a diode like ZnO/PANI heterojunction structure by RF sputtering technique with a high rectification ratio in the laboratory. The diode parameters obtained from the I-V data using the established methods of Cheung and Norde's function, based on the thermionic emission model of diode, agrees with each other. The current mechanism in the diode was ohmic at lower voltages (at voltages less than 2.8 V) where as space charge limited current (SCLC) dominates at higher voltage (above 3.5 V). The measured I-V characteristics remain the same under bending conditions also. This indicates that this heterojunction could be exploited positively in flexible electronics.