Electric field assisted aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition of nanostructured metal oxide thin films

•Electric field assisted chemical vapour deposition method•Ability to create high surface area film architectures•Can produce enhanced sensor response•Good control over film properties

Nanostructured thin films of tungsten, vanadium and titanium oxides were deposited on gas sensor substrates from the electric field assisted chemical vapour deposition reaction of tungsten hexaphenoxide, vanadyl acetylacetonate and titanium tetraisopropoxide respectively. The electric fields were generated by applying a potential difference between the inter-digitated electrodes of the gas sensor substrates during the deposition. The deposited films were characterised using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The application of an electric field, encouraged the formation of interesting and unusual nanostructured morphologies, with a change in scale length and island packing. It was also noted that crystallographic orientation of the films could be controlled as a function of electric field type and strength. The gas sensor properties of the films were also examined; it was found that a two to three fold enhancement in the gas response could be observed from sensors with enhanced morphologies compared to control sensors grown without application of an electric field.