Study of n-WO3/p-porous silicon structures for gas-sensing applications

H. Mhamdi (1) , R. Benabderrahmane Zaghouani (1) , T. Fiorido (2) , J.-L. Lazzari (3) , Marc Bendahan (2) , W. Dimassi (1)

1 Ctr Rech & Technol Energie, Lab Photovolta, Technopole Borj Cedria,BP,95 Hammam Lif, Tunis, Tunisia
2 IM2NP - Institut des Matériaux, de Microélectronique et des Nanosciences de Provence
3 CINaM - Centre Interdisciplinaire de Nanoscience de Marseille

In this work, we report on the gas sensing properties of n-WO3/p-porous silicon (PS) structures. Nanostructured WO3 films are deposited by simple chemical method via dip-coating of PS in tungsten hexachloride solution. The morphological and structural properties of the elaborated structures were investigated using Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Raman and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometers. The NO2-sensing performances of the sensor were measured at different operating temperatures ranging from room temperature to 250 °C, different NO2 concentrations and different time exposure. The sensor showed a p-type semiconducting behavior which probably owning to the strong effect of the hetero-junction between the n-WO3 nanoparticles and p-porous silicon substrate. The obtained results confirm the suitability of these structures to detect low NO2 concentrations up to 1 ppm at moderate temperatures. These sensors exhibit fast response and recovery times.

Keywords: Tungsten oxide; Porous silicon; NO2 detection response time; recovery time

Domains: Engineering Sciences [physics]; Materials; Engineering Sciences [physics]; Micro and nanotechnologies/Microelectronics; Environmental Sciences; Environmental Engineering

H. Mhamdi, R. Benabderrahmane Zaghouani, T. Fiorido, J.-L. Lazzari, Marc Bendahan, et al.. Study of n-WO3/p-porous silicon structures for gas-sensing applications. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics, 2020, 31 (10), pp.7862-7870. ⟨10.1007/s10854-020-03324-8⟩. ⟨hal-02867069⟩