High sensitivity carbon monoxide sensors made by zinc oxide modified gated GaN/AlGaN high electron mobility transistors under room temperature

AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires modified gate exhibit significant changes in channel conductance upon expose to different concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) at room temperature. The ZnO nanowires, grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with perfect crystal quality will attach CO molecules and release electrons, which will lead to a change in surface charge in the gate region of the HEMTs, inducing a higher positive charge on the AlGaN surface, and increasing the piezoinduced charge density in the HEMTs channel. These electrons create an image positive charge on the gate region for the required neutrality, thus increasing the drain current of the HEMTs. The HEMTs source-drain current was highly dependent on the CO concentration. The limit of detection achieved was 400 ppm in the open cavity with continuous gas flow using a 50×50 μm2 gate sensing area.