Electrical properties of ZnO/Au and ZnO/SnO2 nanorod arrays when exposed to UV irradiation with controlled intensity

Arrays of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods were synthesized on quartz substrates by the hydrothermal method. The nanorods were grown mainly in a vertical orientation, had a length of 500–800 nm and an average cross-sectional size of  40–80 nm. Gold nanoclusters with average sizes of 9 ± 1 nm and 4 ± 0.5 nm and tin with average sizes of 30 ± 5 nm and 15 ± 3 nm were formed on top of the ZnO nanorods. Annealing was carried out at 300 °C for 2 hours with the  formation of arrays of ZnO/SnO₂ nanorods. For the manufacture of resistive sensor elements, V/Ni contact metallization was applied on top of the samples. The study of the electrophysical characteristics of the ZnO/Au and ZnO/ SnO2 nanorods arrays showed that exposure to UV radiation of different intensity leads to a change in the electrical resistance of the sensor structure, and also affects the time of establishing the readings of the obtained samples.