Effect of Post Deposition Annealing Temperature on the Hydrogen Gas Sensitivity of SnO₂Thin Films

Abstract

SnO2 thin films were prepared on the Si substrate by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering and then post deposition vacuum annealed to investigate the effect of annealing temperature on the structural properties and hydrogen gas sensitivity of the films. The films that annealed at 300 o C show the higher sensitivity than the other films annealed at 150 o C. From atomic force microscope observation, it is supposed that post deposition annealing promotes the rough surface and also, increase gas sensitivity of SnO 2 films for hydrogen gas. These results suggest that the vacuum annealed SnO 2 thin films at optimized temperatures are promising for practical high-performance hydrogen gas sensors.