Dr Christopher Oshman

From

University of Colorado Boulder - USA

In residence at

Research Group for Materials, Microelectronics, Acoustics and Nanotechnologies (GREMAN) / CNRS, INSA CVL, University of Tours - FR

Host scientist

Dr Guylaine Poulin-Vittrant

PROJECT

Investigation of the feasibility of strain sensing and energy harvesting with piezo-semoconducting nanostructures

ZnO nanowires present recent and interesting structures that have a broad range of applications thanks to their reduced size and their unique physical properties. As other nanodevices, they combine the advantages of large surface to volume ratios, small active volumes, integration in complex microscale devices. Moreover, ZnO exhibits both piezoelectric and semiconducting properties, making possible innovative electrical applications.

Within a larger project whose objectives are the design, fabrication and testing of a novel piezoelectric device capable of sensing and/or energy harvesting, this project focuses on the theoretical study of the physical phenomena involved in the electromechanical conversion inside the piezo-semiconducting nanowires. Using mathematical models that have been developed at the laboratory and data from on-going experimental work, this work will contribute to the validation of different piezoelectric devices and their improvement.