Effect of Ar Ion Irradiation on the Hydrogen Gas Sensitivity of SnO 2 Thin Films

†Abstrart SnO thin films were prepared on the Si substrate by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering and then surface of the films were irradiated with intense Ar ion beam to investigate the effect of Ar ion irradiation on the properties and hydrogen gas sensitivity of the films. From atomic force microscope observation, it is supposed that intense Ar bombardments promote rough surface and increase gas sensitivity of SnO films for hydrogen gas. The films that Ar ion beam irradiated at 6 keV show the higher sensitivity than the films were irradiated at 3 keV and 9 keV. These results suggest that the SnO thin films irradiated with optimized Ar ion beam are promising for practical high-performance hydrogen gas sensors. (Received September 27, 2012; Revised October 13, 2012; Accepted November 20, 2012)