p-n Heterojunctions of Emergent Wide band gap Oxides for self-powered UVC sensing - HEWOX

Project summary

Uncontrolled fires are estimated to contribute as much to carbon gas emissions as all of commercial transport and must thus be a critical challenge for the EU Green Deal objective of no carbon gas emissions by 2050. A key problem is prompt detection to limit the damage. Most commercial fire/smoke detectors, usually infrared detectors, do not go off until it is too late to intervene. Remote optical sensing should be a big part of the solution. For this reason, there is a need for ultraviolet C band (UVC) flame sensors, which are not subject to such false positives because their photoresponse is solar blind. HEWOX project will explore and contrast the advantages of developing of Ga2O3/NiO heterojunctions (thin films/nanostructure) for use as self-powered remote fire/flame sensors. This approach reinforces the innovative character of the project due to merging of UVC sensing and autonomous operation into a functional materials platform, by employing emerging ultra-wide band gap oxides.