Investigator: Mitra Dutta , ECE. Support from NASA Ames Research Center

1. Rapid Thermal Annealing used for refreshing Tin Oxide nanowire chemical sensors and Improving their Crystalline quality. Investigator: MitraDutta, ECE. Support from NASA Ames Research Center • Annealing at specific conditions and environment would refresh the Tin Oxide nanowire used in gas sensing applications. • Minimization of defects in nanowires which determine the electrical and optical properties for high performance applications. • Synthesis of Tin Oxide nanowires using a special carbothermal reduction process. • Identifying various inherent structural defects in nanowires and understanding their role in modifying the electronic and optical properties using various experimental characterization techniques. • Obtain a specific Annealing condition which would serve to minimize the defects as well pre-charge/refresh the nanowires for future gas sensing applications. • Nanowires of various diameters have been synthesized in large scale. • Intrinsic defect levels/states/traps have been identified and minimized by annealing in oxygen and nitrogen under specific conditions. Luminescence and structural properties of the wires have improved/changed by a significant extent post annealing. • Specific annealing condition used for refreshing nanowires has been obtained. • Ultimate goal is massive integration of tin oxide nanowires for gas sensing and nuclear radiation detection.