Electronic transport calculation for a selective gas sensor based on an InAs/InP triple-barrier heterostructure

Abstract

In this paper we present the results of electronic transport calculations of an InAs/InP triple-barrier heterostructure that can be used as a gas sensor to recognize the vibrations of odorant molecules at room temperature. We modeled the nanostructure using a 1D approach, and calculated the transmission, density of states and the current vs. voltage characteristics using the non-equilibrium Green's function. The plausibility of such device is demonstrated by analyzing the local density of states in the well regions at different voltages, and comparing it to the energies of the vibrational modes of sulfur dioxide. We show that this molecule can be detected by scanning the voltage from 0 to 0.4V.