Chemosensors (Jun 2023)

High Sensitivity Low-Temperature Hydrogen Sensors Based on SnO<sub>2</sub>/κ(ε)-Ga<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>:Sn Heterostructure

  • Aleksei Almaev,
  • Nikita Yakovlev,
  • Viktor Kopyev,
  • Vladimir Nikolaev,
  • Pavel Butenko,
  • Jinxiang Deng,
  • Aleksei Pechnikov,
  • Petr Korusenko,
  • Aleksandra Koroleva,
  • Evgeniy Zhizhin

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/chemosensors11060325
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 6
p. 325

Abstract

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The structural and gas-sensitive properties of n-N SnO2/κ(ε)-Ga2O3:Sn heterostructures were investigated in detail for the first time. The κ(ε)-Ga2O3:Sn and SnO2 films were grown by the halide vapor phase epitaxy and the high-frequency magnetron sputtering, respectively. The gas sensor response and speed of operation of the structures under H2 exposure exceeded the corresponding values of single κ(ε)-Ga2O3:Sn and SnO2 films within the temperature range of 25–175 °C. Meanwhile, the investigated heterostructures demonstrated a low response to CO, NH3, and CH4 gases and a high response to NO2, even at low concentrations of 100 ppm. The current responses of the SnO2/κ(ε)-Ga2O3:Sn structure to 104 ppm of H2 and 100 ppm of NO2 were 30–47 arb. un. and 3.7 arb. un., correspondingly, at a temperature of 125 °C. The increase in the sensitivity of heterostructures at low temperatures is explained by a rise of the electron concentration and a change of a microrelief of the SnO2 film surface when depositing on κ(ε)-Ga2O3:Sn. The SnO2/κ(ε)-Ga2O3:Sn heterostructures, having high gas sensitivity over a wide operating temperature range, can find application in various fields.

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