Integration of metal oxide nanobelts with microsystems for nerve agent detection

©2005 American Institute of Physics. The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://link.aip.org/link/?APPLAB/86/063101/1DOI:10.1063/1.1861133We have assembled tin dioxide nanobelts with low-power microheaters for detecting dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), a nerve agent simulant. The electrical conductance of a heated nanobelt increased for 5% upon exposure to 78 parts per billion DMMP in air. The nanobelt conductance recovered fully quickly after the DMMP was shut off, suggesting that the single-crystal nanobelt was not subject to poisoning often observed in polycrystalline metal oxide sensors. While the sensitivity can be improved via doping nanobelts with catalytic additives, directed assembly or growth of nanobelts on microsystems will potentially allow for the large-scale fabrication of nanosensor arrays