A silver nanowire based gas ionization sensor EUROCON2009

Author

Azmoodeh, Nika ; Chivu, Nicoleta ; Sadeghian, Ramin Banan ; Kahrizi, Mojtaba

Author_Institution

Electr. & Comput. Eng., Concordia Univ., Montreal, QC, Canada

fYear

2009

fDate

18-23 May 2009

Firstpage

1231

Lastpage

1235

Abstract

We report fabrication and successful testing of a gas ionization sensor made of silver nanowires (AgNWs) sandwiched between two parallel plates. The device was tested in low pressure argon gas (0.1 les P les 10^-4 torr) where the breakdown voltages (V_b) were recorded against pressure. The new device displayed considerably lower V_b compared to its gold nanowire (AuNW)-based counterparts. The reduction of Vb was justified based on the increase in the secondary electron emission factor on AgNWs due to the lower workfunction of silver. We have also developed a simulation tool to model the device. Our model is based on combined Particle-In-Cell and Monte-Carlo-Collision (PIC-MCC) approaches which provides a platform for further development and optimization of the device.

Keywords

Monte Carlo methods; argon; gas sensors; ionisation; nanosensors; nanowires; secondary electron emission; silver; Ag; Ar; Monte-Carlo-collision approach; breakdown voltage; device optimization; gas ionization sensor fabrication; particle-in-cell approach; secondary electron emission factor; sensor testing; silver nanowire; Breakdown voltage; Electrodes; Electrons; Fabrication; Gas detectors; Gold; Ionization; Nanoscale devices; Sensor arrays; Silver; Breakdown Voltage; Sensors; ionization; nanowires;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

EUROCON 2009, EUROCON '09. IEEE

Conference_Location

St.-Petersburg

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-3860-0

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-3861-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/EURCON.2009.5167793

Filename

5167793