Browsing by Author "Ramshanker, N."

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Development of CeO2-HfO2Mixed Oxide Thin Films for High Performance Oxygen Sensors
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2021) Ramshanker, N.; Lakshmi Ganapathi, K.L.; Varun, N.; Bhat, M.S.; Mohan, S.
In this work, the authors report the fabrication and characterization of CeO2 -HfO2 mixed oxide thin film based oxygen gas sensors. The atomic concentrations of the individual elements Ce and Hf in the mixed oxide (CeO2 -HfO2) thin films were controlled and tuned using a novel method in RF sputtering to achieve better oxygen sensing characteristics. The characteristics of the sensing film were evaluated using various characterization techniques such as TEM-EDS, FESEM-EDS, XPS and XRD. The XPS and EDS data revealed that the Hf concentration increases with an increase in size as well as number of the HfO2 pellets that are placed on a 3-inch CeO2 target during sputtering. From the XRD and XPS analysis, it was found that the mixed oxide film with 10-11% Hf atomic concentration has the best sensing characteristics. The superior sensing characteristics of the CeO2 -HfO2 film can be attributed to the existence of a highly reactive plane (200) with the highest surface energy and a strongly reduced surface with oxygen vacancy formation due to the presence of Ce3+ ions and HfOx, x < 2 on the surface of the mixed oxide film. The sensor film detected the presence of oxygen gas even at low temperatures (< 400°C); however, the response time and recovery time were slightly higher. The sensor film of thickness 220 nm with Hf concentration between 10-11% showed excellent sensitivity (15), fast response and recovery times of 8 s and 10 s respectively at an operating temperature of 400°C, which are the best values reported till date for CeO2 based oxygen sensors. © 2001-2012 IEEE.
RF Sputtered CeO2 Thin Films-Based Oxygen Sensors
(2019) Ramshanker, N.; Ganapathi, K.L.; Bhat, M.S.; Mohan, S.
In this paper, we report the scalable, high sensitivity, fast response, and low operating temperature Cerium oxide (CeO2) thin film-based oxygen sensors by optimizing CeO2 film thickness. CeO2 thin films of thickness ranging from 90 to 340 nm have been deposited at 400 C using radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering on Al2O3 substrates. Ellipsometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been used to characterize the CeO2 films for their thickness, structural, compositional/chemical, and surface morphology properties. Gas sensors have been fabricated using CeO2 film as a sensing material and tested in an oxygen gas environment. CeO2 film with an optimum thickness of 260 nm has shown high sensitivity (12.6) and fast response time (?10 s) along with fast recovery time (15 s) at a low operating temperature of 400 C. To the best of our knowledge, these are the best values reported till date for undoped CeO2 thin film-based oxygen sensors. Furthermore, from the sensor's response, it was observed that there was no drifting from the baseline. This superior performance of CeO2 thin film-based oxygen sensor may be attributed to the combination of three factors, i.e., 1) high surface energy and reactivity due to the presence of (200) oriented CeO2 plane; 2) low resistance due to better crystallinity; and 3) perfect stoichiometry with required roughness. 2001-2012 IEEE.
RF Sputtered CeO2 Thin Films-Based Oxygen Sensors
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2019) Ramshanker, N.; Lakshmi Ganapathi, K.L.; Bhat, M.S.; Mohan, S.
In this paper, we report the scalable, high sensitivity, fast response, and low operating temperature Cerium oxide (CeO2) thin film-based oxygen sensors by optimizing CeO2 film thickness. CeO2 thin films of thickness ranging from 90 to 340 nm have been deposited at 400°C using radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering on Al2O3 substrates. Ellipsometry, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) have been used to characterize the CeO2 films for their thickness, structural, compositional/chemical, and surface morphology properties. Gas sensors have been fabricated using CeO2 film as a sensing material and tested in an oxygen gas environment. CeO2 film with an optimum thickness of 260 nm has shown high sensitivity (12.6) and fast response time (?10 s) along with fast recovery time (15 s) at a low operating temperature of 400°C. To the best of our knowledge, these are the best values reported till date for undoped CeO2 thin film-based oxygen sensors. Furthermore, from the sensor's response, it was observed that there was no drifting from the baseline. This superior performance of CeO2 thin film-based oxygen sensor may be attributed to the combination of three factors, i.e., 1) high surface energy and reactivity due to the presence of (200) oriented CeO2 plane; 2) low resistance due to better crystallinity; and 3) perfect stoichiometry with required roughness. © 2001-2012 IEEE.