Investigation into effect of coupled resonance phenomenon towards sensitivity enhancement of SAW conductivity sensors integrated with ZnO nanorods

In this work, FEM simulation was used to investigate the sensitivity of a one-port surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonator sensor to changes in electrical conductivity of the sensing medium composed of ZnO nanorods offering elastic loading on the surface of the resonator. A system of coupled resonators was formed when the height of the ZnO nanorods attached to the surface of the resonator was adjusted such that the resonant frequency of the nanorod approached the original resonant frequency of the SAW resonator. It was observed that the use of ZnO nanorods of resonant dimensions as sensing medium could enhance the sensitivity of the composite SAW sensor to changes in electrical conductivity of the sensing medium by up to 79 times. The comparatively higher sensitivity of the SAW conductivity sensor utilizing ZnO nanorods at resonant dimensions as sensing medium was attributed to the fact that the system of coupled resonators thus formed operates at a state of high sensitivity to changes induced in piezoelectric stiffening of the substrate during SAW propagation. The observations from FEM simulation conducted in the present work suggests strong prospects for the use of coupled resonance phenomenon at nanoscale for enhancing the sensitivity of conductivity-based SAW gas sensors and UV detectors employing 1-D ZnO nanostructures as sensing medium.