Enhancement of gas sensing by implantation of Sb-ions in SnO2 nanowires

• Published in: Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical Vol. 304; p. 127307
• Main Authors: Kim, Jae-Hun, Mirzaei, Ali, Kim, Jin-Young, Lee, Jae-Hyoung, Kim, Hyoun Woo, Hishita, Shunich, Kim, Sang Sub
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 01.02.2020; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Chemical composition; Detection; Gas sensor; Gas sensors; Gases; Ion implantation; Morphology; Nanowires; NO2; Organic chemistry; Sb-implantation; Sensing mechanism; Sensors; SnO2 nanowire; Surface defects; Tin dioxide; NO2; Sb-implantation; Gas sensor; SnO2 nanowire; Sensing mechanism
• ISSN: 0925-4005; 1873-3077
• DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2019.127307

•For gas sensing studies, we synthesized Sb-implanted SnO2 NWs at different doses.•Sensor response was enhanced by Sb-implantation, where the lowest dose showed the best performance.•Involved mechanisms are explained by doping-induced change of electron concentration and generation of surface defects. We describe gas sensing improvements of SnO2 nanowire (NW) gas sensors by Sb-ion implantation. SnO2 NWs were grown through a vapor-liquid-solid growth technique and Sb-ion implantation was performed by an ion implanter at different doses of 2 × 1013, 2 × 1014, and 2 × 1015 ion/cm2. The morphology and chemical compositions were confirmed by different characterization techniques. Gas sensing results demonstrated the gas sensing improvement by Sb-implantation, where the lowest dose gas sensor showed the best performance towards tested gases. However, high doses led to a reduced sensing response. We suggested the related sensing mechanism based not only on change of electron concentration by substituting Sn4+ ions to Sb+5 ions, but also on generation of surface defects. This study can open new possibilities to use ion-implantation as promising way to enhance the sensing capability of different gas sensors.