Electrical and Electronic Engineering 2015, 5(1A): 19-22 DOI: 10.5923/c.eee.201501.04 ZnO Nanostructure Decorated Microgap Electordes UV Sensor Q. Humayun 1,* , U. Hashim 2 , C. M. Ruzaidi 1 , Kai Loong Foo 2 1 Department of Electronics Faculty of Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), D/A Pejabat Pos Besar Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia 2 Nano Biochip Research Group, Institute of Nano Electronic Engineering (INEE), Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia Abstract The larger surface-area-to-volume ratio compared with their bulk counterpart, Nanomaterials based electronic devices are the subject of keen interest, probably because of cost effective nature and fast sensing capabilities. Moreover the control morphology at specific area of electrodes is a challenging task. Therefore in the current research article the ZnO thin film and ZnO nanorods were selectively deposited by low cost sol-gel and hydrothermal growth process at the selective area of microgap electrodes spacing and further electrically tested for ultraviolet (UV) sensing application. On exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light the current gains, response/recovery times, repeatability, of the fabricated sensors displayed the promising application for UV light detection. The surface morphologies structural, optical and electrical properties of the as synthesized nanostructures ZnO were characterized using SEM, XRD, and source meter respectively. Keywords Micro-gap, Sol gel, Hydrothermal, ZnO thin film, ZnO Nanorods, Ultraviolet light (UV) 1. Introduction During the last few decades, nanomaterials have been the subject of extensive interest because of their potential use in a wide range of fields like, optoelectronics, catalysis and sensing applications [1-3]. Due to smaller size and larger surface area to volume ratio, nanomaterials comprised novel physical and chemical properties that are difficult to observe in conventional and bulk counterparts [4]. Generally there are three types of nanomaterials (one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D)) have been fabricated [5]. Presently, nanomaterials based research areas are rapidly expanding and growing [6]. Moreover metal oxide based nanomaterials have drawn a special attention because of attractive properties coupled with efficient flexibility in structures [7]. Physically ZnO „‟Zinc Oxide‟‟ is existed in white powder form. Naturally ZnO exhibit n-type conductivity, while its p-type conductivity can be generated by special synthesis process [8]. Generally n-type conductivity might because of intrinsic defects and oxygen vacancies [9]. ZnO can be synthesized by variety of different techniques with different morphologies, such as pulsed laser deposition (PLD) [10], sputtering [11], chemical vapor deposition sol-gel [12] and metal organic chemical vapor deposition * Corresponding author: qhumayun2@gmail.com (Q. Humayun) Published online at http://journal.sapub.org/eee Copyright © 2015 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved (MOCVD) [13] etc. The solution based methods is low cost, simple, need low temperature and also scalable for large areas. ZnO is considering good candidate for electronic device application. Properties of direct and wide band gap allow ZnO to function at high break down voltages, low noise, high temperature and power [14]. Such characteristics could enhance the application of ZnO for light emitting application mainly blue and ultraviolet light emission diodes [15]. High exciton binding energy (60 meV) of ZnO shows the light emission efficiency at room temperatures [16]. Moreover for solar cell technology transparency properties of ZnO allow to use as transparent electrodes [17]. Ultraviolet (UV) photodetector has an important role in various commercial and military applications, such as secure space-to-space communications, pollution monitoring, water sterilization, early missile plume detection, fire alarm, environmental monitoring, and high temperature flame detection [18]. Therefore it is necessary to fabricate high performance low-cost UV sensors to control the effect of UV radiation [16]. The measurement of UV radiation is different from visible radiation, because direct optical instrument could not detect UV radiation properly [19]. 2. Experimental 2.1. Mask Design To align the nanostructures at desired area of electrodes spacing and, to achieve good resolution during pattern