A Reliable Device Topology for ZnO Nanowire-based Gas Sensors

The frontiers of research are rapidly advancing in the area of nanowire-based sensors, which are being used for a breadth of applications. ZnO nanowires-based sensors have shown tremendous potential in the area of chemical and biological sensing but the performance of these sensors are contingent upon the successful design and packaging of sensing platform. Therefore, in this work two distinct device topologies, single ZnO nanowire device and ZnO nanowire-based array device, have been fabricated and compared for their sensing performance. The single nanowire device has been fabricated through focused ion beam and e-beam lithography techniques while SEM and EDAX analysis have been used to characterize the device. I-V characteristics of the ZnO nanowire-based array devices have been measured through a semiconductor parameter analyzer and a prospective device refresh strategy through thermal cycling has been outlined.