I-Corps: Ultra-Sensitive and Fast-Response Zinc Oxide Schottky-Contact Ultraviolet Nanosensor

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to provide a novel approach towards producing high sensitivity, fast response, ultra-low power consumption, low cost, and highly thermal stable UV sensors. UV sensors have wide ranging markets from industrial, manufacturing, health, to consumer applications, and therefore have significant potential for societal and economic impact. The general public will benefit from the significant reduction in the capital and recurring cost of UV sensor technologies brought by the innovation. The technology has the potential to impact the UV sensor industry by providing lower power consumption, wider operation temperature ranges, and the potential for flexible device embodiments.This I-Corps project will enable customer discovery for a core technology that could potentially impact the ultraviolet (UV) sensor industry. Due to large surface-to-volume ratio and reduced dimensionality of the active area, Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have been shown to have high photon conductance, which leads to high sensitivity of the device performance. Utilizing the Schottky contact instead of conventional Ohmic contact in device fabrication, the sensitivity and response time of ZnO UV nanosensors have been greatly improved. In addition, the device can be deposited on silicon as well as flexible substrates. The characteristics of the ZnO UV nanosensor (i.e. performance metrics, system integration, packaging, form factors, etc.) will be aligned with current and future customer needs, while at the same time, a business model will be explored for this novel technology.