Effects of rapid thermal annealing on surface acoustic wave ultraviolet sensors using ZnO nanorods grown on AlN/Si structures

Abstract

In this study, we demonstrate a high sensitivity of surface acoustic wave (SAW) ultraviolet (UV) sensor based on ZnO nanorods (NRs) grown on an aluminum nitride (AlN)/silicon (Si) layered structure. The one-dimensional ZnO NRs act as a high-UV sensing material due to their large surface-to-volume ratio. The fabrication of SAW UV sensor is entirely compatible with micro/nano electromechanical (M/NEMS) process with conventional lithography and synthesized ZnO NRs by hydrothermal method at low temperature. The rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process effectively improved the optical properties of ZnO NRs and the sensitivity of the SAW UV sensors. The resulting SAW UV sensors responded to various UV light intensities, and the RTA-processed samples showed high sensitivity. The SAW UV sensor after RTA treatment at 600 °C showed the highest sensitivity with a 130 kHz frequency shift at a UV light intensity of at 0.6 mW/cm2, a 5-fold increase in sensitivity compare with as-grown sample.