Growth and characterization of p-Cu2O/n-ZnO nanorod heterojunctions prepared by a two-step potentiostatic method

•p-Cu2O/n-ZnO heterostructures were grown by a two-step potentiostatic method.•The high-quality p-Cu2O/n-ZnO nanorod heterojunctions were obtained only at relatively high temperatures of 90 and 100 °C.•p-Cu2O/n-ZnO heterojunctions exhibited a well-defined p–n diode characteristic.

p-Cu2O/n-ZnO nanorod heterojunctions were fabricated by a two-step process. The process was performed with potentiostatic deposition of n-ZnO nanorods on conductive indium-tin-oxide (ITO) glasses followed by potentiostatic deposition of p-Cu2O to form p-Cu2O/n-ZnO nanorod heterojunctions. The deposition condition required to form the cuprous oxide layer affected significantly the formation and microstructure of the p-Cu2O/n-ZnO nanorod heterojunctions. In particular, the high-quality p-Cu2O/n-ZnO nanorod heterojunctions were obtained only at relatively high temperatures of 90 and 100 °C. The p-Cu2O/n-ZnO nanorod heterojunctions exhibited a well-defined p–n diode characteristic with an ideality factor of about 4.3.