Sputtered platinum thin films for resistive hydrogen sensor application

• Pt thin films fabricated by RF sputtering on glass substrates with various thicknesses.
• Structural and H2 sensing properties of Pt films were studied.
• 2 nm Pd film exhibited the best sensing performance to H2 at 30 °C under dry air flow.
• The sensitivity of Pt film decreased with enhancing film thickness.

This work presents hydrogen (H2) sensing properties of platinum (Pt) thin film deposited on glass substrate by sputter technique. The Pt thin films with different thickness prepared using RF sputtering method were characterized by the XRD, SEM and XPS techniques. Temperature dependent resistances and the gas measurements of the Pt thin films were investigated under a dry air flow at a temperature range from 30 °C to 200 °C. The H2 sensing properties of Pt thin film sensors were also examined in the concentration range of 0.1–1% H2. The results revealed that the Pt thin film with 2 nm thickness exhibited the best sensing performance to H2 at 30 °C under dry air flow.