Synthesis and characterization of thin molybdenum oxide films prepared from molybdenum dioxo tropolonate precursors by photochemical metal-organic deposition (PMOD) and its evaluation as ammonia gas sensors

Molybdenum oxide thin films have been successfully prepared by direct UV irradiation of amorphous films of molybdenum dioxide tropolonate complexes on Si(100) substrates. Photodeposited films were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the surface morphology examined by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Gas sensing experiments showed that photodeposited MoO3 films have good sensitivity towards 50 ppm NH3 at an operating temperature of 350 °C.