Zinc Oxide Nanowire Based Hydrogen Sensor On SOI CMOS Platform

Abstract

Here we report on the successful low-temperature growth of zinc oxide nanowires (ZnONWs) on silicon-on- insulator (SOI) CMOS micro-hotplates and their response, at different operating temperatures, to hydrogen in air. The SOI micro-hotplates were fabricated in a commercial CMOS foundry followed by a deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) in a MEMS foundry to form ultra-low power membranes. The micro-hotplates comprise p+silicon micro-heaters and interdigitated metal electrodes (measuring the change in resistance of the gas sensitive nanomaterial). The ZnONWs were grown as a post-CMOS process onto the hotplates using a CMOS friendly hydrothermal method. The ZnONWs showed a good response to 500 to 5000ppm of hydrogen in air. We believe that the integration of ZnONWs with a MEMS platform results in a low power, low cost, hydrogen sensor that would be suitable for handheld battery- operated gas sensors.