Wide-gap semiconductors with nanostructures such as nanoparticles, nanorods, nanowires are promising as a new type of UV photosensor. Recently, ZnO (zinc oxide) nanowires have been extensively investigated for electronic and optoelectronic device applications. ZnO nanowires are expected to have good UV response due to their large surface area to volume ratio, and they might enhance the performance of UV photosensors. In this paper, a new fabrication method of a UV photosensor based on ZnO nanowires using dielectrophoresis is demonstrated. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is the electrokinetic motion of dielectrically polarized materials in non-uniform electric fields. ZnO nanowires, which were synthesized by nanoparticle-assisted pulsed-laser deposition (NAPLD) and suspended in ethanol, were trapped in the microelectrode gap where the electric field became higher. The trapped ZnO nanowires were aligned along the electric field line and bridged the electrode gap. Under UV irradiation, the conductance of the DEP-trapped ZnO nanowires exponentially increased with a time constant of a few minutes. The slow UV response of ZnO nanowires was similar to that observed with ZnO thin films and might be attributed to adsorption and photodesorption of ambient gas molecules such as O(2) or H(2)O. At higher UV intensity, the conductance response became larger. The DEP-fabricated ZnO nanowire UV photosensor could detect UV light down to 10 nW cm(-2) intensity, indicating a higher UV sensitivity than ZnO thin films or ZnO nanowires assembled by other methods.
This paper describes a new method for fabricating a gas sensor composed of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) using dielectrophoresis (DEP). MWCNTs dispersed in ethanol were trapped and enriched in an interdigitated microelectrode gap under the action of a positive DEP force that drove the MWCNTs to a higher electric field region. During the trapping of MWCNTs, the electrode impedance varied as the number of MWCNTs bridging the electrode gap increased. After the DEP process, the ethanol was evaporated and the microelectrode retaining the MWCNTs was exposed to ammonia (NH3) gas while the electrode impedance was monitored. It was found that the electrode impedance was altered by ppm-levels of ammonia at room temperature. The ammonia exposure decreased the sensor conductance, while the capacitance increased. The sensor showed a reversible response with a time constant of a few minutes. The conductance change was proportional to ammonia concentration below 10 ppm and then gradually saturated at higher concentrations. Effects of the number of trapped MWCNTs on sensor response were also discussed.
We describe a new technique that realizes the quantitative estimation of the biological cell concentration in an aqueous medium. The proposed dielectrophoretic impedance measurement method utilizes the positive dielectrophoretic force to capture suspended biological particles onto an interdigitated micro-electrode array in pearl-chain formation. Higher cell concentration results in faster development of the pearl chains, which are electrically connected in parallel within the electrode gap to increase the conductance and capacitance between the electrodes. By monitoring temporal variation of the electrical impedance, it is possible to quantitatively evaluate the cell population according to a theoretical model of the cell collection process. It has been demonstrated that a suspension liquid of Escherichia coli could be accurately assayed in about 10 min at 10 5 cm −3 concentration.
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