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

Abstract

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 2x10(13), 2x10(14), and 2x10(15) ion/cm(2). 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.