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    Properties of CdxZn1-xO thin films and their enhanced gas sensing performance
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2017) Bharath, S.P.; Bangera, K.V.; Shivakumar, G.K.
    CdxZn1-xO(0 ? x ? 0.20) thin films with different Cd concentrations were successfully deposited on glass substrate using spray pyrolysis technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) were used for structural, surface morphological and compositional characterization. The XRD analysis revealed that the synthesized films were hexagonal in structure with (002) orientation. The SEM studies confirm the formation of homogeneous and uniform films. Optical transmittance and electrical conductivity of the films were evaluated using UV–Visible spectroscopy and two probe method respectively. The optical studies showed that the CdxZn1-xO thin films have optical transmittance in entire visible region. The resistivity of undoped films were very high and it decreases with addition of cadmium. The gas sensing properties were investigated at optimal temperature of 350 °C for various volatile organic compounds like acetone, ethanol and methanol. The CdxZn1-xO thin films with 10 at. % cadmium concentration showed the sensitivity of 50% for 1 ppm ethanol. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.
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    Enhanced gas sensing properties of indium doped ZnO thin films
    (Academic Press, 2018) Bharath, S.P.; Bangera, K.V.; Shivakumar, G.K.
    Indium doped ZnO (InxZn1-xO, 0 ? x ? 0.05) thin films were deposited on to soda lime glass substrate by employing spray pyrolysis as deposition technique. Effect of doping concentration on characteristics of thin films were examined by XRD, SEM, UV-Visible spectroscopy, electrical and gas sensing measurements. XRD analysis demonstrates polycrystalline nature of thin films and also shows the shift in orientation from (002) to (101) crystal plane with increase in indium doping concentration. Surface morphological analysis shows the formation of homogeneous particle like nanostructures. Optical transmittance determined from UV-Visible spectroscopy was in the range of 80–95%, which was decreasing with increase in indium doping concentration. Maximum electrical conductivity was achieved at an optimal indium doping concentration of 3 at.%. The gas sensing properties were examined for different concentration of volatile organic compounds like acetone, ethanol and methanol for different doping levels. In0.03Zn0.97O thin films showed good sensitivity towards ethanol, with sensitivity of 30% towards 25 ppm of ethanol. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd
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    Synthesis and characterization of Cu 1-x Zn x O composite thin films for sensor application
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2019) Bharath, S.P.; Bangera, K.V.; Shivakumar, G.K.
    Cu 1-x Zn x O composite thin films were prepared using industrially applicable spray pyrolysis technique for volatile organic compound (VOCs)sensor application. Sensing properties for different concentration of VOCs such as acetone, ethanol and methanol were studied at different sensor operating temperature. XRD studies on prepared thin films confirmed formation of CuO[sbnd]ZnO composite thin films with presence of different peaks for monoclinic structured CuO and hexagonal structure ZnO, it was also observed that formation of composite material improves sensing property towards VOCs. Granular morphology observed from SEM images were also contributed to enhance sensitivity of Cu 1-x Zn x O thin films. Hot probe experiment reveals that all the thin films were p-type in conductivity nature. Maximum electrical conductivity was achieved for Cu 0.75 Zn 0.25 O composite thin films, which also showed highest sensing property for VOCs. Cu 0.75 Zn 0.25 O thin films were selective towards ethanol and were capable of detecting 1 ppm of ethanol at operating temperature of 290 °C. © 2019
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    Fast detection and discriminative analysis of volatile organic compounds using Al-doped ZnO thin films
    (Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2021) Bharath, S.P.; Bangera, K.V.
    Abstract: Aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films with different doping concentrations have been synthesized by simple spray pyrolysis technique. Precursor solution concentration was maintained ~ 50 mM throughout the fabrication process and dopant concentration was varied from 0 to 5 at. %. Prepared solution was sprayed on top of pre-heated glass plate to get highly adhesive AZO thin films. Various characterization techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–Visible spectroscopy were adopted to get an insight into the material formation. Electrical and gas-sensing characteristics were also recorded in detail to evaluate its potential application as a transparent conductor and gas sensor. As determined from XRD analysis, continuous decrease in grain size was observed with increase in aluminum doping concentration. Further, extracting the interplanar distance and lattice parameters, it was noticed that there was a negligible random variation. Aluminum doping also plays a significant role in modifying the surface morphology of thin films. Randomly arranged plate-like structures in undoped ZnO thin films transform to granular morphology with aluminum doping. Minimum resistivity of 0.517?m with ~ 80% transmittance in visible region was achieved at an optimal aluminum doping concentration of 3 at.%. Aluminum doping helps in increasing the sensitivity of ZnO thin films toward various volatile organic compound vapors such as acetone and ethanol. 3 at.% Al-doped thin films were capable of detecting 100 ppm of ethanol and acetone with a highest sensitivity of ~ 60%. Al incorporation to ZnO lattice is also supportive in bringing down the response and recovery time of the sensing material. A very short response time of 3 s and recovery time of 28 s was achieved at 100 ppm of ethanol. Principal component analysis shows proper discrimination between acetone and ethanol. Graphic abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature.