Nano Express
Hydrogen sensors based on electrophoretically deposited Pd nanoparticles onto InP
1 Institute of Photonics and Electronics, Academy of Sciences CR, v.v.i., Prague 8, Czech Republic
2 Faculty of Nuclear Science and Physical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Nanoscale Research Letters 2011, 6:392 doi:10.1186/1556-276X-6-392
Published: 20 May 2011Abstract
Electrophoretic deposition of palladium nanoparticles prepared by the reverse micelle technique onto InP substrates is addressed. We demonstrate that the substrate pre-deposition treatment and the deposition conditions can extensively influence the morphology of the deposited palladium nanoparticle films. Schottky diodes based on these films show notably high values of the barrier height and of the rectification ratio giving evidence of a small degree of the Fermi level pinning. Moreover, electrical characteristics of these diodes are exceptionally sensitive to the exposure to gas mixtures with small hydrogen content.
