Ammonia sensing characteristics of a Pt/AlGaN/GaN Schottky diode

The interesting ammonia sensing current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of a Pt/AlGaN/GaN Schottky diode are firstly studied and demonstrated. It is found that the ammonia sensitivity is increased by increasing the temperature. Yet, the sensitivity is decreased when the temperature is higher than 423 K. Experimentally, the studied device exhibits a good sensitivity of 13.1 under exposing to a relatively low concentration ammonia gas of 35 ppm NH3/air. In addition, the good sensing performance of the studied device is demonstrated over a wide operating temperature regime from 298 K to 473 K. A highest ammonia sensing response of 182.7 is found at 423 K while a 10,000 ppm NH3/air gas is introduced.