Enhanced visible light-activated gas sensing properties of nanoporous copper oxide thin films

Metal oxide gas sensors are popular chemoresistive sensors. They are used for numerous tasks, including environmental and safety monitoring. Some gas-sensing materials exhibit photo-induced properties that can be utilized for enhanced gas detection by modifying the sensor selectivity and sensitivity when illuminated by light. Here, we present the gas sensing characteristics of highly nanoporous Cu2O thin films towards both electrophilic (NO2) and nucleophilic (C2H5OH, NH3) gas molecules under ambient temperature and modulated by visible light illumination of different colors (red: 632 nm, green: 530 nm, blue: 468 nm). Cu2O films were fabricated by reactive advanced gas deposition (AGD) technology. The surface and structural analysis of the samples confirm the deposition of nanoporous thin films of mixed copper oxide phases. The gas sensing property of Cu2O exhibited expected p-type semiconductor behavior upon electrophilic and nucleophilic gas exposures. Our results show that visible light illumination provides enhanced sensor response.