ZnO nanorods grown on polymer substrates as UV photodetectors

Vertical well-aligned and uniform ZnO nanorods were successfully prepared on low cost and flexible PET polymer substrate by aqueous solution method under various growth conditions. Current–voltage (I–V) and current–time (I–t) relationships measurements demonstrate that the photocurrent can be increased by more than 25 times upon UV illumination (λ=365nm) with a power density of 70μW/cm2. The photocurrents can be repeatedly and reproducibly switched by modulating UV exposure with power densities of 25–70μW/cm2. The fast response time (100s) and rapid recovery time (120s) are achieved in UV turn-on/off switching measurements. Owing to the good performance including mechanical flexibility, nondestructive properties, high reliability and multilevel photoresponse, the well-aligned ZnO nanorods grown on transparent and flexible PET polymer substrates have high potential for UV photodetector applications.