Ultra-high resolution position sensors with self-assembled nanowire arrays

High-resolution position sensing technology is critically important for electronics and military applications. In this study, we report that the pixel shrinking of the position detecting device can be facilely realized by increasing its pixel height with the photoelectric property tuning of half-dimensional (0.5D) zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires. Based on this principle, we have successfully demonstrated a precise spotlight position tracking sensor (PTS) by integrating self-assembled, 0.5D ZnO nanowire arrays as nanopixels for the first time. With vertically-aligned 0.5D ZnO nanowires sandwiched between two parallel electrodes, the integrated PTS device demonstrates an ultra-high resolution of 200 nm, which breaks the resolution limitation of the existing thin-film based counterparts. In addition, the sensor showcases various merits such as fabrication simplicity and low power consumption. Our pioneering research sheds light on replacing microelectronics with nanoelectronics by using a bottom-up device fabrication approach.