Thin organic layers prepared by MAPLE for gas sensor application

It was shown that organic materials can be used as an active layer for conductivity gas sensors. It was found that Pulse Laser Deposition (PLD) is a convenient technology for producing thin layers (from nanometers to micrometers). Metal Acetylacetonates (MAcAc) exhibit high sensitivity to oxidizing gases as well as reducing atmospheres. New technology—MAPLE—Matrix Assisted Pulse Laser Deposition has been previously developed for deposition of thin films from large organic molecules (up to several hundreds of amu). Starting material is embedded in frozen matrix, which plays important role during energy transfer while laser pulse hits the target.First experiments have been done with Indium (III) acetylacetonate and Tin(IV) bis(acetylacetonate) dichloride. To certify successful transfer of original material FTIR and SEM analyses have been used. Gas sensors with those layers were tested at different atmospheres and temperature dependent sensitivity was acquired. Results from DC measurements show, that MAPLE technology is the very perspective for preparation of high demand gas sensors.