A novel low-temperature resistive NO gas sensor based on InGaN/GaN multi-quantum well-embedded p-i-n GaN nanorods.

In gas sensors, metal oxide semiconductors have been considered as favorable resistive-type toxic gas sensing materials. However, the higher temperature operation of metal oxides becomes a barrier for their wide range of applications in explosive and flammable gas environments. In this regard, great efforts have been devoted to reducing the operating temperature of the sensor. We demonstrated a chemical resistor-type NO gas sensor based on p-i-n GaN nanorods (NRs) consisting of InGaN/GaN multi-quantum wells (MQW). The sensor exhibited superior NO gas sensing performance to p-type GaN NRs. Furthermore, it also showed a remarkably improved response and fast recovery under UV irradiation (λ = 367 nm) of different UV intensities (7 to 20 mw cm-2) under reverse bias. The sensing performance of MQW-embedded p-i-n GaN NRs was enhanced with the boosted response by 4-fold at 35 °C under UV irradiation. The significant decrease in the resistance of the sensor under UV irradiation was mainly due to the extraction of photo-generated carriers under reverse bias, which can enhance the ionization of oxygen molecules. In addition, the effect of relative humidity (30%-60%) on the gas sensing performance was also manifested in this study. The selectivity of the sensor was determined by using other gases (NO, NO2, O2, NH3, H2S, CO, and H2), which exhibited a low response towards all tested gases other than NO. The experimental results demonstrated that p-i-n GaN NRs with InGaN/GaN MQW is a promising material for the detection of NO gas. Specific emphasis was laid on the enhanced response of p-i-n GaN NRs in reverse bias under UV irradiation.

[1]  Hadis Morkoç,et al.  GaN resistive hydrogen gas sensors , 2005 .

[2]  S. Gosavi,et al.  Low temperature synthesis and NOx sensing properties of nanostructured Al-doped ZnO , 2007 .

[3]  Kyung Soo Park,et al.  On-chip fabrication of ZnO-nanowire gas sensor with high gas sensitivity , 2009 .

[4]  Jason L. Johnson,et al.  Hydrogen sensing with Pt-functionalized GaN nanowires , 2009 .

[5]  Emanuela Filippo,et al.  Room temperature NO2 sensing properties of reactively sputtered TeO2 thin films , 2009 .

[6]  W. Lour,et al.  Comprehensive investigation on planar type of Pd–GaN hydrogen sensors , 2009 .

[7]  Liqiong Wu,et al.  Reduced graphene oxide electrically contacted graphene sensor for highly sensitive nitric oxide detection. , 2011, ACS nano.

[8]  Byung-Guon Park,et al.  Analysis of leakage current mechanisms in Pt/Au Schottky contact on Ga-polarity GaN by Frenkel-Poole emission and deep level studies , 2011 .

[9]  A. Motayed,et al.  Methanol, ethanol and hydrogen sensing using metal oxide and metal (TiO2–Pt) composite nanoclusters on GaN nanowires: a new route towards tailoring the selectivity of nanowire/nanocluster chemical sensors , 2012, Nanotechnology.

[10]  W. Lour,et al.  Unidirectional sensing characteristics of structured Au–GaN–Pt diodes for differential-pair hydrogen sensors , 2012 .

[11]  Shengli Zhu,et al.  Design of a highly sensitive ethanol sensor using a nano-coaxial p-Co3O4/n-TiO2 heterojunction synthesized at low temperature. , 2013, Nanoscale.

[12]  Jongbaeg Kim,et al.  Suspended GaN nanowires as NO2 sensor for high temperature applications. , 2013, The Analyst.

[13]  Han-Yu Shih,et al.  An optically detectable CO2 sensor utilizing polyethylenimine and starch functionalized InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells , 2013 .

[14]  T. Hsueh,et al.  Water- and humidity-enhanced UV detector by using p-type La-doped ZnO nanowires on flexible polyimide substrate. , 2013, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[15]  Junhong Chen,et al.  Nanocarbon-based gas sensors: progress and challenges , 2014 .

[16]  C. Lokhande,et al.  Gas sensing properties of hydrothermally grown ZnO nanorods with different aspect ratios , 2014 .

[17]  Bingqiang Cao,et al.  Highly sensitive and selective triethylamine-sensing properties of nanosheets directly grown on ceramic tube by forming NiO/ZnO PN heterojunction , 2014 .

[18]  M. Eickhoff,et al.  Group III-Nitride Chemical Nanosensors with Optical Readout , 2014 .

[19]  Jae-Eung Oh,et al.  Influence of growth parameters on the optical properties of selective area grown GaN nanorods by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy , 2014 .

[20]  M. Eickhoff,et al.  Detection of oxidising gases using an optochemical sensor system based on GaN/InGaN nanowires , 2014 .

[21]  A. Ougazzaden,et al.  Highly sensitive detection of NO2 gas using BGaN/GaN superlattice-based double Schottky junction sensors , 2015 .

[22]  Chao Li,et al.  Electrospun nanofibers of p-type NiO/n-type ZnO heterojunction with different NiO content and its influence on trimethylamine sensing properties , 2015 .

[23]  Jun Zhang,et al.  High triethylamine-sensing properties of NiO/SnO2 hollow sphere P-N heterojunction sensors , 2015 .

[24]  Wen-Chau Liu,et al.  Enhancement of hydrogen sensing performance of a GaN-based Schottky diode with a hydrogen peroxide surface treatment , 2015 .

[25]  Y. Li,et al.  Influence of Ce doping on microstructure of ZnO nanoparticles and their acetone sensing properties , 2015 .

[26]  Alireza Nikfarjam,et al.  Improvement in gas-sensing properties of TiO2 nanofiber sensor by UV irradiation , 2015 .

[27]  R. S. Kumar,et al.  Influence of p-GaN shape on the light emission characteristics of InGaN nanodisk embedded p-i-n GaN nanorods , 2015 .

[28]  S. Komarneni,et al.  Confined Formation of Ultrathin ZnO Nanorods/Reduced Graphene Oxide Mesoporous Nanocomposites for High-Performance Room-Temperature NO2 Sensors. , 2016, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[29]  Partha Bhattacharyya,et al.  Highly Efficient Room-Temperature Gas Sensor Based on TiO2 Nanotube-Reduced Graphene-Oxide Hybrid Device , 2016, IEEE Electron Device Letters.

[30]  Taro Ueda,et al.  Enhanced NO2 gas sensing performance of bare and Pd-loaded SnO2 thick film sensors under UV-light irradiation at room temperature , 2016 .

[31]  Nicolae Barsan,et al.  The oxidizing effect of humidity on WO3 based sensors , 2016 .

[32]  Hyundong Lee,et al.  NO gas sensing kinetics at room temperature under UV light irradiation of In2O3 nanostructures , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[33]  Rakesh K. Sonker,et al.  Experimental investigations on NO2 sensing of pure ZnO and PANI–ZnO composite thin films , 2016 .

[34]  Yang Jiang,et al.  The enhanced photo absorption and carrier transportation of InGaN/GaN Quantum Wells for photodiode detector applications , 2017, Scientific Reports.

[35]  Junhong Chen,et al.  Two-dimensional nanomaterial-based field-effect transistors for chemical and biological sensing. , 2017, Chemical Society reviews.

[36]  Zhong Lin Wang,et al.  Simultaneously Enhancing Light Emission and Suppressing Efficiency Droop in GaN Microwire-Based Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diode by the Piezo-Phototronic Effect. , 2017, Nano letters.

[37]  F. Taghipour,et al.  Development of highly sensitive ZnO/In2O3 composite gas sensor activated by UV-LED , 2017 .

[38]  Dinesh K. Aswal,et al.  Gas dependent sensing mechanism in ZnO nanobelt sensor , 2017 .

[39]  D. K. Aswal,et al.  Flexible NO gas sensor based on conducting polymer poly[N-9′-heptadecanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4′,7′-di-2-thienyl-2′,1′,3′-benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT) , 2017 .

[40]  Nguyen Duc Chinh,et al.  H2, H2S gas sensing properties of rGO/GaN nanorods at room temperature: Effect of UV illumination , 2018, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical.

[41]  R. Sankar Ganesh,et al.  Sensitivity enhancement of ammonia gas sensor based on Ag/ZnO flower and nanoellipsoids at low temperature , 2018 .

[42]  Yanhong Lin,et al.  Study on the gas-sensitive properties for formaldehyde based on SnO2-ZnO heterostructure in UV excitation , 2018 .

[43]  K. Kan,et al.  Multilayer flower like MoS 2 conjugated with thin layer In(OH) 3 for high-performance NO x gas sensor at room temperature , 2018 .

[44]  Cheng-Liang Hsu,et al.  UV-illumination and Au-nanoparticles enhanced gas sensing of p-type Na-doped ZnO nanowires operating at room temperature , 2018, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical.