In situ probing of electromechanical properties of an individual ZnO nanobelt

We report here, an investigation on electrical and structural-microstructural properties of an individual ZnO nanobelt via in situ transmission electron microscopy using an atomic force microscopy (AFM) system. The I-V characteristics of the ZnO nanobelt, just in contact with the AFM tip indicates the insulating behavior, however, it behaves like a semiconductor under applied stress. Analysis of the high resolution lattice images and the corresponding electron diffraction patterns shows that each ZnO nanobelt is a single crystalline, having wurtzite hexagonal structure (a=0.324 nm, c=0.520 66 nm) with a general growth direction of [101¯0].