Schottky-Contacted Nanowire Sensors

Abstract

The progress of the Internet-of-Things in the past few years has necessitated the support of high-performance sensors. Schottky-contacted nanowire sensors have attracted considerable attention owing to their high sensitivity and fast response time. Their progress is reviewed here, based on several kinds of important nanowires, for applications such as bio/chemical sensors, gas sensors, photodetectors, and strain sensors. Although Schottky-contacted nanowire sensors deliver excellent performance in these fields, they can be further improved by various methods, including defect engineering, surface modification, the piezotronic effect, and the piezophototronic effect, all of which are discussed here. With regard to practical applications, further efforts are required to address challenges such as the stability, selectivity, ultrafast response, multifunctionality, flexibility, distributed energy supply, and sustainability of Schottky-contacted nanowire sensors. Finally, future perspectives and solutions are discussed.

Keywords: Schottky contact; biosensors; gas sensors; nanowire sensors; photodetectors.