Nitrogen oxides and ammonia sensing characteristics of SILAR deposited ZnO thin film

Pure and Sn, Ni doped ZnO thin films were deposited on glass substrates using a novel successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method at room temperature. Microstructures of the deposited films were optimized by adjusting growth parameters. The variation in resistivity of the ZnO film sensors was performed with rapid photothermal processing (RPP). The effect of rapid photothermal processing was found to have an important role in ZnO based sensor sensitivity to NO2, NH3. While the undoped ZnO film surface exhibited higher NH3 sensitivity than that of NO2, an enhanced NO2 sensitivity was noticed for the ZnO films doped with Sn and higher NH3 sensitivity was obtained by Ni doping.