LAUSR

The electrical and gas-sensitive characteristics of sensors based on nanocrystalline SnO2 thin films with noble metals (Pt, Pd, Au) and 3d-transition metals (Co, Ni) additives in the bulk and on the surface have been studied. Thin (~100 nm) tin dioxide films were grown in magnetron by DC sputtering of a tin–antimony alloy target in oxygen–argon plasma. It was shown that the obtained sensors can detect acetone and ethanol vapors at 1 ppm level. The detecting of acetone vapors needs higher temperatures than detecting of ethanol. In a temperature range T < 650 K, responses to ethanol exceed responses to acetone for all studied samples. For higher operating temperatures T > 700 K, the sensors with deposited Pt, Pd catalysts on the surface as well as the sensors with Ni and Co additives in the bulk are characterized by a higher sensitivity to acetone than to ethanol. The use of different operating temperatures allows detecting selectively acetone and ethanol vapors.