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Optimization of SnO2 thin films for low temperature NO2 sensors applications

A. Assaf, M. Zeghouane, J.-R. Plaussu, S. Cavalagliob, B. Pelissier, F. Bassani, I. Canero-Infante, T. Fiorido, M. Bendahan, S. Monfray, B. Salem, B. Vilquin, A. Souifi

Abstract

In this work, a high-performance n-type semiconductor gas sensor based on undoped-SnO<sub>2</sub> thin films deposited by a conventional radio- frequency (RF) – magnetron sputtering process was successfully fabricated. The structure, morphology, and chemical composition of the sensing material were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) respectively. The end results show that the thin film has a poly- crystalline structure with the presence of oxygen vacancies. The resistive sensor architecture has been simulated using TCAD SILVACO software’s in order to optimize the geometry for sensor response optimization. <BR />In this study, undoped-SnO<sub>2</sub> resistive gas sensor exhibits compelling sensing performance for detecting 3 ppm of NO 2 mixed with dry air at low operating temperature, around 100°C. 3 ppm represents the maximum level of NO<sub>2</sub> concentration beyond which short-term exposure presents a risk to human health or environmental degradation. Lower concentrations were also investigated in our study and the lowest NO<sub>2</sub> concentration evaluated is about 0.25 ppm.

Keywords
Undoped-SnO 2 gas sensors; TCAD simulations; low operating temperature; NO<sub>2</sub> sensing
Download
IMEKO-TC19-2022-06.pdf
DOI
10.21014/tc19-2022.06
IMEKO TC
TC19 - Environmental Measurements

Event details

Event
TC19 Symposium: Metrology on Environmental Instrumentation and Measurements (EnvIMEKO 2022)
Technical Committee
TC19
Email
envimeko.lemans.2022@gmail.com
Place
La Mans, FRANCE
Time
2 June 2022 - 3 June 2022
Website
https://easychair.org/cfp/EnvIMEKO_2022

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