Structural and gas response characterization of nano-size SnO2 films deposited by SILD method

The possibilites of successive ionic layer deposition (SILD) technology for deposition of nano-scalled SnO2 films are discussed in this article. SnO2 films deposited using this technology contain porous agglomerated structures consisting of nano-size crystallites. Even after annealing at T-an = 800 degreesC, the average size crystallites doe snot exceed 6-7 nm. The average size agglomerates depends on film thickness, and range from 20 to 80 nm. These SnO2 films have good gas response especially to ozone and H-2. However, the rate of response to these gases is different. The response to ozone is fast, while the response to exposure to reducing gas, such as H-2, is slow. It is assumed that inter-crystallite gas diffusion in agglomerates limits the rate of response to reducing gases. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.