Light stimulated and regulated gas sensing ability for ammonia using sulfur-hyperdoped silicon

Publication date: Available online 15 April 2019Source: Sensors and Actuators B: ChemicalAuthor(s): Xiao-Long Liu, Sheng-Xiang Ma, Su-Wan Zhu, Yang Zhao, Xi-Jing Ning, Li Zhao, Jun ZhuangAbstractIn recent years, sulfur-hyperdoped silicon has attracted widespread interests for its physics and applications in the optoelectronic fields. In this article, we first study the sensing ability of the sulfur-hyperdoped silicon for ammonia gas. The sensing properties of the sensor in the dark are investigated but an extremely weak gas response is exhibited by the principle of the conductometric gas sensor. Interestingly, the material shows a satisfactory sensing ability for ammonia when subjected to a specific lighting method. A new mechanism is proposed for the novel gas sensing properties arising from the light. The mechanism means the gas sensor can be self-powered without an external voltage. More interestingly, such a sensing mechanism renders the gas sensing properties regulated and dramatically increased by means of the light. Therefore, light is no longer a facilitating tool for the enhanced gas sensing of the conventional conductometric sensors but the source of an irreplaceable transducer function for the regulated gas sensing properties in nature.
Source: Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research