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In this work, the effect of the process parameters during chemical and electrochemical passivation of InGaAs/InP PIN photodetectors using (NH 4 ) 2 S x (x >1) has been studied in detail. It has been observed that the time of passivation, temperature of the sulfide solution and illumination during electrochemical treatment play significant roles in the efficacy of the passivation process. These parameters therefore have to be carefully optimized in order to reduce the dark current of the detectors to a minimum value. The yield of the process is also found to improve with sulfur passivation.

Here, we demonstrate improved NO2 gas sensing properties based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) decorated V2O5 thin film. Excluding the DC sputtering grown V2O5 thin film, rGO was spread over V2O5 thin film by the drop cast method. The formation of several p–n heterojunctions was greatly affected by the current–voltage relation of the rGO-decorated V2O5 thin film due to the p-type and n-type nature of rGO and V2O5, respectively. Initially with rGO decoration on V2O5 thin film, current decreased in comparison to the pristine V2O5 thin film, whereas depositing rGO film on a glass substrate drastically increased current. Among all sensors, only the rGO-decorated V2O5 sensor revealed a maximum NO2 gas sensing response for 100 ppm at 150 °C, and it achieved an approximately 61% higher response than the V2O5 sensor. The elaborate mechanism for an extremely high sensing response is attributed to the formation and modulation of p–n heterojunctions at the interface of rGO and V2O5. In addition, the presence of active sites like oxygenous functional groups on the rGO surface enhanced the sensing response. On that account, sensors based on rGO-decorated V2O5 thin film are highly suitable for the purpose of NO2 gas sensing. They enable the timely detection of the gas, further protecting the ecosystem from its harmful effects.