Alpha-Fe2O3 nanorods are synthesized through a hydrothermal method with no surfactant introduced and ethanol sensors are fabricated from these nanorods.The device can respond to ethanol vapour in a concentration range from 1 to 1500 parts per million and shows both p-type and n-type responding characteristics during the investigation of the ethanol sensing.The sensor displays a p-type characteristic when the ethanol concentration is low and converted into an n-type characteristic as the concentration exceeds a certain value.Such a phenomenon is attributed to the chemisorbed oxygen,which leads to different modifications of the energy band at the surface,namely,depletion layer or inversion layer.
