Stable and very sensitive gas sensor based on novel mixed-metal oxides

Elisabetta Comini; Guido Faglia; Giorgio Sberveglieri

doi:10.1117/12.532373

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29 March 2004 Stable and very sensitive gas sensor based on novel mixed-metal oxides

Elisabetta Comini; Guido Faglia; Giorgio Sberveglieri

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Proceedings Volume 5275, BioMEMS and Nanotechnology; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.532373
Event: Microelectronics, MEMS, and Nanotechnology, 2003, Perth, Australia

Abstract

The material properties of the nano-structured materials show remarkable improvement or deviation from the properties exhibited by the coarser grained material. These unique properties are attributed to the significant increase in grain boundary area due to the small grain size. The possibility to manipulate the properties of a nanosized thin film simply through annealing appears to be of widespread interest for material science. In the gas sensing field of application there is a great effort in reducing the grain dimension and increasing the surface area exposed to the interaction with gaseous species. One of the strategies used is the addition of a second element, which can inhibit the grain growth. Furthermore, there may be a coexistence of two phases and one phase can act as a receptor while the other can act as transducers and an effect on film porosity is also expected, depending on the extent of oxide segregation from the nanosized film. Thin films made of Mo-Ti, Mo-W, Ti-W, Ti-Nb mixed oxides were achieved by reactive sputtering, assisted by thermal treatments. These layers were characterized by means of the electrical measurements in presence of different pollutants and alcohols and with the Kelvin probe at different working temperatures; the good sensing capabilities registered with these mixed oxide compared to their single oxides have to be ascribed to the nanosized structure of these layers. In particular different p-type sensing materials were produced, the opposite behavior of these layer is attractive to ease data processing in sensors arrays.

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Elisabetta Comini, Guido Faglia, and Giorgio Sberveglieri "Stable and very sensitive gas sensor based on novel mixed-metal oxides", Proc. SPIE 5275, BioMEMS and Nanotechnology, (29 March 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.532373

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