Electrical Properties of Gamma-rays Exposed 1D Nanostructures

Electrical properties of matter has a very significant role in characterization of a particular material to utilize it for device applications. One-dimensional nanostructures play an important role as interconnects in nanoscale based electronic devices. Hence, the flow of electric current is a very significant parameter to control the quality of electronic device. The electrical conductivity of nanomaterials is found to vary with diameter of 1D nanostructures. However, keeping the diameter of 1D nanostructures constant, and exposing them to radiations can also cause reduction in their electrical conductivity. In present work, we analyzed the consequence of gamma rays induced variation in current voltage characteristics and hence the electrical conductivity of 1D silver and zinc nanostructures. We synthesized the 1D silver and zinc nanostructures via TEMs and exposed them to gamma radioactive Cobalt-60 source. In the post exposure cases, I-V characteristics (IVC) are found to be severely affected that indicates the dampening of electronic flow across nano-needles. And around 2 Volts of applied potential difference, electronic flow across 1D nanostructures approaches to zero, however, a little variation in the potential is observed in different cases of irradiation with no specific pattern.