On a Schottky diode-type hydrogen sensor with pyramid-like Pd nanostructures

• A Schottky diode-type hydrogen sensor with pyramid-like Pd nanostructures is studied.
• Pyramid-like nanostructures can effectively increase the specific Pd surface area.
• The improved hydrogen sensing responses and a low detection limit are observed.
• The studied sensor show advantages of low cost, easy process, and simple apparatus.

A new Pd/AlGaN/GaN Schottky diode-type hydrogen sensor with pyramid-like Pd nanostructures is fabricated and studied comprehensively. The employed pyramid-like Pd nanostructures cause the substantial increase of surface roughness and surface-to-volume aspect ratio which give the remarkable increase of adsorption sites on the surface for hydrogen molecules. Experimentally, the studied device with pyramid-like Pd nanostructures demonstrates enhanced hydrogen sensing performance, including a large forward-bias current variation of 1.95 × 10−6 A and a high sensing response of 1454 under an introduced 1% H2/air gas at 300 K. These properties are remarkably superior to those of the conventional planar-surface device. In addition, an improved hydrogen detection limit of 10 ppb H2/air at 300 K is found for the studied device with pyramid-like Pd nanostructures. The related hydrogen sensing characteristics including transient responses and steady-state analysis are also studied in this work. Therefore, based on the improved sensing properties and advantages of low-cost, easy fabrication, and solid stability of operation, the studied device shows the promise for high-performance hydrogen sensing applications.