Modeling and Simulation of a Single Tin Dioxide Nanobelt FET for Chemical Sensors

This paper presents the modeling and simulation of a tin dioxide (SnO
₂
) field-effect transistor (FET)-based nanobelt gas sensor. The model results are compared to numerical simulations and experimental data obtained from published results describing the fabrication of single crystal nanobelts grown through thermal evaporation techniques. The fabricated sensor shows good response when exposed to oxygen (O
₂
) and hydrogen (H
₂
) at room temperature. Gas adsorption causes changes in the electrical contacts due to oxygen vacancies in the bulk. As a result, the I-V characteristics are very different when the device is exposed to (O
₂
) versus (H
₂
). In the presence of H
₂
, the behavior of the contacts is ohmic and saturation is caused by pinch-off of the channel at the drain contact. However, in the presence of O
₂
, the behavior of the contacts is Schottky, and device saturation occurs at the source end of the device. Our model is based on a depletion mode MOSFET and it accounts for both ohmic and Schottky contacts when the device is exposed to oxygen or hydrogen. It also provides a possible explanation for the gate bias dependence of the saturation current seen in some published characterization data.