Abstract
A particulate matter micro-sensor for automotive exhaust systems based on a gateless wide-bandgap AlGaN/GaN high electron mobility transistor was developed and tested. Soot particles were generated by a laminar diesel flame and characterized with Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy. Particle adsorption at the rate of 0.25 µg/min on the sensor surface resulted in 5.52% sensing response after 20 s and large signal variation of 4.44 mA, indicating fast response time. Saturated response of 34.72% (27.94 mA) was obtained after 10 min of deposition. The sensitivity towards soot is attributed to the modulation of the two-dimensional electron gas density by charged particles on the sensing surface. After soot deposition, the sensor was successfully regenerated by thermal oxidation of the carbonaceous particles at 600 °C. The sensing response remained unchanged post-regeneration indicating high temperature stability and harsh environment operation compatibility of the demonstrated GaN-based sensor. Nevertheless, interconnect metal optimization is still required to mitigate high-temperature interdiffusion.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 130811 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-8 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical |
Volume | 349 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2021 |
Keywords
- 2DEG
- AlGaN/GaN
- Diesel soot
- HEMT
- On-board diagnostics
- Soot sensor