Using ZnO:Sb micro-wires as oxygen sensors

We fabricated ZnO:Sb micro-wires using a simple thermal technique and then studied the dependence of their electrical resistance on light, temperature and the abundance of ambient oxygen. While this work demonstrates that individual wires are quite sensitive to oxygen gas flow, both temperature and light illumination strongly affect their oxygen gas sensitivity and stability. Operating these ZnO:Sb oxygen sensors at 200\textdegree C gives the highest response to oxygen, yet a vanishingly small effect of light and temperature variations. The underlying physics and the interplay between these effects will also be discussed.