Gas Ionization Phenomena at Nanowire Electrodes

In this work, we have systematically investigated miniaturized versions of surface ionization (SI) gas sensors regarding their potential of detecting and distinguishing low-ionization-energy analytes from high-ionization-energy background species. We present here the first systematic framework to understand and design future SI gas sensors; the main conclusion being that the performance of such sensors is not only dependent on the kind of electrode materials but also largely dependent on the geometrical shape and the architectural features of the ion-emitting and ion-collecting electrode configurations, especially when approaching submicron dimensions.