Application of spectromicroscopy tools to explore local origins of sensor activity in quasi-1D oxide nanostructures

We have tested a range of imaging and spectroscopic techniques to address their ability to locally explore the interplay between surface reactivity and transport properties of the metal oxide nanostructure wired as a chemiresistor and chemi-FET. In particular, we used scanning surface potential microscopy ( SSPM) to monitor the spatial and temporal particularities of the dc potential distributions in an operating device. We also successfully implemented synchrotron radiation- based photoelectron emission microscopy ( PEEM) to explore submicron lateral compositional and electronic ( work function) inhomogeneity on the surface of an individual nanowire sensor. These results open new avenues to visualize and spectroscopically address the chemical phenomena on an individual quasi-1D nanostructure both in real time and at nano- and mesoscopic level.