“PHYSICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION OF FUNCTIONAL OXIDE THIN FILMS”

Abstract

In the present work, the Cu doped ZnO nanostructured thin films with various Cu concentrations were deposited on glass substrate by dc magnetron sputtering technique. The structural, surface morphological, chemical composition and electrical properties of Cu doped ZnO (CZO) thin film samples were thoroughly investigated. The as deposited CZO thin films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis (EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Keithley setup. The doping effect have been observed and found the enhancement in the sensing properties of CZO thin films as compared to bare ZnO. Therefore, Variation in the Cu concentration from 0.13 at% to 2.8 at% had a significant effect on the sensing properties of CZO thin films. The sensor shows remarkably high and selective response towards carbon monoxide (CO) gas with low detection range 50–1000 ppm. Our results demonstrate the potential application of CZO sensor for fabricating highly sensitive and selective gas sensors.