Room Temperature UV Photodetector Based on Aero-Titania

This research demonstrates, for the first time, the integration of aero-titania material in sensor devices. An innovative approach for the practical application of aero-titania (aero-TiO2) materials in photodetectors and the characterization under ultraviolet irradiation was assessed. The fabrication of aero-materials was carried out through the atomic layer deposition (ALD) of titanium dioxide ultrathin layers on a sacrificial network consisting of zinc oxide micro-tetrapods. This process was followed by a selective etching of the sacrificial ZnO template and formation of aero-titania hollow micro-tetrapods. The obtained material has been characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The development of photodetectors was achieved through the sequential spin-coating deposition of aero-TiO2 onto an interdigitated ceramic electrode. The obtained results show that, for high-intensity ultraviolet, the maximum sensitivity was reached for the two-deposited-layer aero-TiO2 sensor at about 23, since for the low-intensity UV the highest sensitivity was recorded for the one-deposited-layer aero-TiO2 sensor at about 12. In terms of the responsivity, the highest response was obtained for the one-deposited-layer aero-TiO2 sensor under low-intensity illumination, reaching about 1.23 × 10−4 A W−1 cm−2. Thus, the aero-TiO2 structure demonstrates the practical viability and application potential of this emerging class of materials in advanced sensing technologies.