Abstract
We demonstrated a flexible strain sensor based on ZnSnO 3 nanowires/microwires for the first time. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy indicates that the ZnSnO 3 belongs to a rhombohedral structure with an R3c space group and is grown along the [001] axis. On the basis of our experimental observation and theoretical calculation, the characteristic I-V curves of ZnSnO 3 revealed that our strain sensors had ultrahigh sensitivity, which is attributed to the piezopotential-modulated change in Schottky barrier height (SBH), that is, the piezotronic effect. The on/off ratio of our device is ∼ 587, and a gauge factor of 3740 has been demonstrated, which is 19 times higher than that of Si and three times higher than those of carbon nanotubes and ZnO nanowires. © 2012 American Chemical Society.