This paper reports an enhancement on the sensing performance of ZnO nanorod ethanol sensors with a new approach by utilizing nested coatings of Aluminum doped ZnO (AZO) thin films by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) technology. ZnO nanorods were grown by the hydrothermal method with the ZnO seed layer synthesized on Silicon wafers by ALD. To enhance the sensing performance of ZnO nanorod ethanol sensors, multiple coated AZO thin film 3-D coatings were deposited on the surface of the intrinsic ZnO nanorods by ALD.To investigate the sensing performance of the ZnO nanorods sensor for the detection of ethanol vapor, a gas sensor testing system was designed and built with a sealed reaction chamber and a temperature controller. The demonstrated sensing performance results include the sensing response comparison between ZnO nanorods before and after ALD coatings with AZO films at different temperatures and with various concentrations of input ethanol vapor. The response times and recovery times of ZnO nanorods before and after ALD coatings with AZO thin films were analyzed to investigate the sensing enhancement. The sensing response improvement peaks at 25°C room temperature with approximately 200% enhancement. However, the sensing response improvement decreases as a function of increasing operating temperature
