Nanoparticles as the active element of high-temperature metal-insulator-silicon carbide gas sensors

The sensor performance of MISiC (metal-insulator-silicon carbide) diode dev ices depends on their temperature pretreatment: an activation step at 600 d egreesC leads to fast-responding devices with extraordinarily high signals but the devices fail when operated above 700 degreesC. The authors focus on the key role of nanoparticles in high-temperature gas sensor applications of these MISiC devices, presenting a model in which the interface dipole mo ment of nanoparticles is seen as the driving force and explaining the diffe rence in response of capacitor-configuration and Schottky-diode-configurati on devices.