Thin films of In2O3SiO for Humidity Sensing Applications 英文参考文献.docVIP

Sensors 2002, 2, 205-218 sensors ISSN 1424-8220 ? 2002 by MDPI /sensors Thin films of In2O3/SiO for Humidity Sensing Applications K.Arshak* and K.Twomey 1 Microelectronics and Semiconductor Research Group, ECE Department, National Technological Park, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland. Tel: +353-61-2027-00. Fax: +353-61-3303-16. * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: khalil.arshak@ul.ie Received: 10 May 2002 / Accepted: 20 May 2002 / Published: 21 June 2002 Abstract: This paper documents the manufacture and testing of a humidity sensor based on a combination of In2O3/SiO. A number of different sensor samples have been produced by thermal deposition and the effect of varying the vacuum pressure has also been investigated. The AC and DC conduction mechanisms have been investigated. From the AC conduction studies, the tunneling conduction mechanism has been observed at low frequencies and the hopping conduction mechanism, for the majority of sensor samples, has been observed at high frequencies. The DC conduction mechanisms have indicated the possibility of space- charge-limited conduction. The sensor with the highest humidity sensitivity of 1.145%/RH% is 85%In2O3/15%SiO, which is produced at a vacuum pressure of 2×10-4 mbar.From the point of view of temperature stability, the 55%In2O3/45%SiO samples produced at a vacuum pressure of 2×10-4 mbar exhibit the lowest temperature sensitivity, 0.3%/oC. Keywords: Thin film sensor, AC conduction, DC conduction, Humidity sensitivity, Temperature sensitivity Introduction Humidity is a constant environmental factor; therefore its accurate measurement and control are very important. Humidity sensors are generally required in areas including domestic electric appliances, the medical industry, the agricultural industry and the automobile industry. The materials used for humidity sensi