Department of Materials Science and EngineeringWe developed a novel batch fabrication technology for the ultralow-power-consumption metal oxide gas sensing platform consisting of a suspended glassy carbon heating nanostructure and hierarchical metal oxide nanostructures forests fabricated by the carbon-micro electromechanical systems (carbon-MEMS) and selective nanowire growth process. We have developed a new manufacturing process for suspended glass carbon nanostructures such as single nanowire, nano-mesh and nano-membranes fabricated using carbon-MEMS consisting of the UV-lithography and the polymer pyrolysis processes. We designed a gas sensing platform consisting of suspended glassy carbon heating nanostructures and suspended hierarchical metal oxide nanostructure forests for the sensing part. Glassy carbon structure produced by the carbon-MEMS has many advantages such as high thermal & chemical stabilities, good hardness, and good thermal & electrical characteristics. The electrical conductivity of glassy carbon nanostructures has been increased more than three times by using rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process owing to the inferior heating property of glassy carbon nano-heater in the electrical conductivity. In order to divide the suspended glassy carbon nano-heater and the suspended hierarchical metal oxide nanostructures forests, the insulating layer of HfO2 materials is a high dielectric constant and is deposited uniformly using a atomic layer deposition (ALD) process on a suspended glassy carbon nano-heater. Suspended hierarchical metal oxide nanostructures forests were grown circumferentially on the suspended HfO2/glassy carbon nano-heater using a hydrothermal method consisting of the seed deposition and the growth processes. For selective metal oxide seed layer deposition process, a short-time exposed polymer patterning process was performed using the positive photoresist. After the polymer patterning process, a metal oxide seed layer is deposited using the rf-sputtering system, followed by a metal oxide nanostructure growth process. The distinguishing architecture of a suspended hierarchical metal oxide nanostructures forests/HfO2/glassy carbon nanostructure ensures efficient mass transport to the metal oxide nanostructure detection point of the gas analyte, resulting in highly sensitive gas detection. In the absence of an external heating system, the ultralow-power-consumption gas sensing platform of a suspended hierarchical metal oxide nanostructures forests/HfO2/glassy carbon nanostructure has excellent the gas sensing characteristics.ope
