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Effect of grain-size on the ethanol vapor sensing properties of room-temperature sputtered ZnO thin films

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Abstract

We have investigated the gas sensing properties of ZnO thin films (100 to 200 nm thickness) deposited by room-temperature radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The sensitivity of the films to ethanol vapor was measured in the 10 to 50 ppm concentration range at operating temperatures between 200 and 400 °C. A synergetic effect of decreasing grain size and increasing operating temperature was observed towards the improvement of the sensitivity, reaching a value of 54 and a limit of detection as low as 0.61 ppm. The decrease in the grain size resulted in prolonged response time but faster recovery. In any case, both response time and recovery time are < 400 s. The results demonstrate that room-temperature magnetron sputtering is a viable approach to enhance the performances of ZnO films in sensors for ethanol vapor.

Sensor response for ZnO films in presence of 50 ppm ethanol as a function grain size and temperature

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Acknowledgments

Financial support from European Commission (ITN-Nanowiring Project, No. PITN-GA-2010-265073) and Romanian Authority for Scientific Research – UEFISCDI (grant no. PN-II-RU-PD-2012-3-0124) is acknowledged. The authors thank Politecnico di Torino for the XRD measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Ricerche Fiat, 50 Strada Torino, 10043, Orbassano, (TO), Italy

    Athanasios Tamvakos, Dimitrios Tamvakos & Daniele Pullini

  2. IMEM-CNR, Parco Area delle Scienze 37/A, 43100, Parma, Italy

    Davide Calestani & Roberto Mosca

  3. University of Bucharest, 405 Atomistilor Str., 077125, Bucharest-Magurele, Romania

    Alina Pruna

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  1. Athanasios Tamvakos
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  2. Davide Calestani
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  3. Dimitrios Tamvakos
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Correspondence to Alina Pruna.

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Tamvakos, A., Calestani, D., Tamvakos, D. et al. Effect of grain-size on the ethanol vapor sensing properties of room-temperature sputtered ZnO thin films. Microchim Acta 182, 1991–1999 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-015-1539-z

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