Quantifying adsorbed water monolayers on silicon MEMS resonators exposed to humid environments

This study investigated the influence of temperature and humidity on the adsorbed water layer on micron-scale monocrystalline silicon (Si) films in air, using a Si-MEMS kHz-frequency resonator. Both temperature and relative humidity induced a reversible change in resonant frequency, attributed to the temperature-dependent properties of Si and to a change in adsorbed water layer. The excellent precision in resonant frequency measurement (0.02 Hz, or 0.5 ppm) allowed precise calculation of the changes in adsorbed water layer thickness over the specimen surface. The increase in water thickness with relative humidity was a function of temperature and could not be described with simple multimolecular adsorption theories such as the BET theory. A likely explanation is the presence of hydrocarbon contaminants on the Si surface. Guidelines are provided to accurately measure the influence of temperature and relative humidity on the adsorbed water layer thickness on micron-scale Si surfaces, using this technique.     

SnO_2/ZnO双层膜的表面界面及气敏特性

用溅射法制备了SnO_2/ZnO薄膜,采用XPS,AFS,SEM,等手段研究了薄膜的表面及界面,发现在薄膜中,锌与锡存在不同深度的相互扩散,从SEM的断面观察可看到有一个明显的界面存在。XRD分析则表明:ZnO极易沿(002)面择优取向生长。并且SnO_2/ZnO膜具有良好的气敏性质。     

基于Si-NPA的BaTiO3薄膜的电容湿敏性能研究

采用溶胶-凝胶和旋涂技术制备了基于Si-NPA的BaTiO3薄膜(BaTiO3/Si-NPA).场发射扫描电镜和X射线衍射实验表明,钙钛矿结构BaTiO3薄膜很好地覆盖了Si-NPA表面.通过蒸镀双面梳状电极,制作了电容型BaTiO3/Si-NPA湿敏元件并对其湿敏性能进行了测试.结果表明,室温下湿敏元件在11%～95%RH范围内具有很高的灵敏度和较快的响应速度,且电容值的对数对湿度呈现出很好的线性.虽然该薄膜湿敏元件在不同湿度下均存在温度漂移,但分析表明这种漂移有可能通过电极设计或信号补偿加以解决.     

薄膜体声波谐振器的结构参数优化分析

建立了微型薄膜体声波谐振器的等效电路模型,研究其整体频率响应特性.提出的等效电路模型考虑了氧化锌压电薄膜两端电极和作为支撑层的氮化硅薄膜对谐振器整体性能的影响,将它们作为传输线引入到等效电路当中.运用PSPICE软件研究了谐振器各结构层的尺寸参数对谐振器谐振频率、品质因数和有效机电耦合系数的影响,并讨论了使用不同材料的电极,谐振器品质因数的变化情况.基于以上分析,对谐振器的结构参数进行优化,获得薄膜体声波谐振器性能的提高.     

A single ZnO tetrapod-based sensor

Transferable ZnO tetrapods were grown by an aqueous solution method. An individual ZnO tetrapod-based sensor was fabricated by in situ lift-out technique and its ultraviolet (UV) and gas sensing properties were investigated. This single tetrapod-based device responds to the UV light rapidly and showed a recovery time of about 23 s. The sensitivity of a single ZnO tetrapod sensor to oxygen concentration was also investigated. We found that when UV illumination is switched off, the oxygen chemisorption process will dominate and assists photoconductivity relaxation. Thus relaxation dynamics is strongly affected by the ambient O₂ partial pressure as described.We also studied the response of ZnO tetrapod-based sensor in various gas environments, such as 100 ppm H₂, CO, i-butane, CH₄, CO₂, and SO₂ at room temperature. It is noted that ZnO tetrapod sensor is much more sensitive to H₂, i-butane and CO. It is demonstrated that a ZnO tetrapod exposed to both UV light and hydrogen can provide a unique integrated multiterminal architecture for novel electronic device configurations.     

EPR and DRS evidence for NO2 sensing in Al-doped ZnO

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a well-known semiconducting multifunctional material wherein properties right from the morphology to gas sensitivity can be tailor-made by doping or surface modification. Aluminum (Al)-incorporated porous zinc oxide (Al:ZnO) exhibits good response towards NO₂ at low-operating temperature. The NO₂ gas concentration as low as 20 ppm exhibits S = 17% for 5 wt.% Al-incorporated ZnO. The NO₂ response increases with operating temperature and concentration and reaches to its maximum at 300 °C without any interference from other gases such as SO₃, HCl, LPG and alcohol. Physico-chemical characterization likes differential thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTA) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and diffused reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) have been used to understand the sensing behavior for pure and Al-incorporated ZnO. The TG-DTA depicts formation of ZnO phase at 287 °C. The EPR study reveals distinct variation for O⁻ (g = 2.003) and Zn interstitial (g = 1.98) defect sites in pure and Al:ZnO. The DRS studies elucidate signature of adsorbed NO_x species in aluminium-incorporated zinc oxide indicating its tendency to adsorb these species even at low temperatures. This paper is an attempt to correlate the gas sensing behavior with the physico-chemical studies such as EPR and DRS.     

基于Al掺杂ZnO的丙酮气敏传感器以及紫外光激发对其气敏性能的影响

采用溶胶凝胶法制备的Al掺杂ZnO纳米粉末（AZO）。利用X射线衍射（XRD）和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）表征样品的晶体结构和表面形貌。采用浸渍提拉法将该样品制成旁热式气体传感器,检测其对不同气体的响应恢复特性。结果表明：Al掺杂ZnO表面粗糙,Al的掺杂能够抑制ZnO晶粒增长。当工作温度为70℃、湿度为27%RH时,4.98wt.%Al掺杂ZnO对丙酮气体具有很好的选择性,电阻灵敏度达到了14075,响应和恢复时间分别为1 s和3 s。紫外光照射可明显提高传感器的气敏特性,并降低工作温度。     

WO_3/Si-NPA复合薄膜的电容湿度传感性能研究

制备了基于硅纳米孔柱阵列(Si-NPA)的WO3/Si-NPA复合薄膜,并对其表面形貌进行了表征,研究了其电容湿度传感性能和基点电容的温度漂移。研究表明:WO3/Si-NPA继承了衬底Si-NPA规则的阵列结构的表面形貌特征,WO3的沉积形成了连续的WO3薄膜,WO3/Si-NPA是一种典型的纳米复合薄膜。室温下,WO3/Si-NPA的电容值随测试频率的增加而单调减小,但其灵敏度则在100 Hz时达到最大值。在此测试频率下,当环境的相对湿度从11%RH增加到95%RH时,元件的电容增量高达16 000%,显示WO3/Si-NPA对环境湿度有较高的灵敏度。同时,电容的湿度响应曲线显示出很好的线性。对其基点电容的温度稳定性研究表明:WO3/Si-NPA用作湿度传感的最佳工作温度区为15~50℃。     

Electrical Frequency Tuning of Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator

This paper describes the design, fabrication, and measurement of an electrically tunable film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) that is formed by integrating FBAR with an electrostatic microelectromechanical systems actuator. Around 1.47% tuning of the series resonant frequency ( Deltaf cong 22.5 MHz) at 1.5 GHz is experimentally obtained with an electrostatic actuation voltage of 7 V. This is the highest frequency tuning reported for FBAR operating at above 1 GHz without any extra power consumption. Two integration approaches of FBAR and air-gap capacitor are presented and compared, in terms of fabrication process and Q factor. The approach that minimizes any possible energy loss in the acoustic wave propagation path shows a quality factor (160-304) significantly higher than the one having a capacitor right on top surface of the FBAR's piezoelectric film. Furthermore, we have characterized the electrical tuning of FBAR through piezoelectric stiffening due to an applied DC electric field and report a linear frequency shift of about -8 ppm/V at 3.4 GHz.     

Effect of magnesium doping on the structural and piezoelectric properties of sputtered ZnO thin film

Structural and piezoelectric characteristics of magnesium-doped ZnO films were investigated. Magnesium-doped ZnO films with a c-axis preferred orientation were deposited on ST-cut quartz by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The crystalline structure and surface morphology of films were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The electromechanical coupling coefficient and temperature coefficient of frequency of the filters were then determined using a Love wave filter. A uniform crystalline structure and smooth surface of the ZnO films were obtained when magnesium dopant level was 1.5 mol%. The grain size of the ZnO film increased when magnesium doped. It has been found that the temperature coefficient of frequency declines to +0.44 ppm/°C at 1.5 mol% magnesium-doped ZnO film.     

Properties of humidity sensing ZnO nanorods-base sensor fabricated by screen-printing

The humidity sensitive characteristics of a sensor fabricated from flower-like ZnO nanorods by screen-printing on a ceramic substrate with Ag–Pd interdigital electrodes have been investigated. The sensor shows high humidity sensitivity, rapid response and recovery, small hysteresis, and good stability. It is found that the impedance of the sensor decreases by about five orders of magnitude with increasing relative humidity (RH) from 11 to 95%. The response and recovery time of the sensor is about 5 and 10 s, respectively. These results indicate that the flower-like ZnO nanorods can be used in fabricating high-performance humidity sensors.     

TiO_2表面氧吸附模拟与氧敏特性研究

根据经典的统计理论,并结合麦克斯韦速率分布律得出吸附过程中O2吸附量的理论模型,从而获得氧吸附面密度与温度、氧分压的理论变化规律。在活化能Ea=0.30 eV的情况下,TiO2对氧气吸附的温度敏感区域在120~410K之间,最佳吸附温度为370K,这与由金红石相TiO2所制成氧敏元件的最佳灵敏度所处的工作温度(378K)相近。并由模拟理论推测O2在半导体表面的吸附面密度与氧分压呈线性增加。     

Effect of thickness of platinum catalyst clusters on response of SnO2 thin film sensor for LPG

This paper reports the sensing response characteristics of rf-sputtered SnO₂ thin films (90 nm thick) loaded with platinum catalyst cluster of varying thickness (2-20 nm) for LPG detection. The enhanced response (5 × 10³) was obtained for 200 ppm LPG with the presence of 10 nm thin and uniformly distributed Pt catalyst clusters on the surface of SnO₂ thin film at a relatively low operating temperature (220 °C). The high response for LPG is shown to be primarily due to the enhanced catalytic activity for adsorbed oxygen on the surface of SnO₂ thin film besides the spill over mechanism at elevated temperature.     

Pinecone-shaped ZnO nanostructures: Growth, optical and gas sensor properties.

Pinecone-shaped ZnO nanostructures have been fabricated on Si substrate by pulsed laser deposition. The scanning electron microscope images showed that pinecone-shaped ZnO nanostructure was 6-fold symmetry and has the rough surface on one end. X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicated that the ZnO nanostructures have high crystal quality and a large amount of surface states. Compared with ZnO nanowires and nanobelts, the oxygen gas sensor based on pinecone-shaped ZnO nanostructures has excellent selectivity, fast response and recover, and lower operating temperature. Meanwhile, the response properties are very stable over several circles.     

基于ZnO/Glass声表面波器件的高速紫外传感特性研究

基于氧化锌/玻璃(ZnO/Glass)结构的声表面波(SAW)器件可以用来制作性能优良的紫外探测器。使用有限元分析软件COMSOL Multiphysics仿真了该种结构的声表面波器件,并得到其S11参数。基于仿真结果,制备了相应的SAW器件,实验所用ZnO薄膜采用直流反应磁控溅射方法沉积,所制备的ZnO薄膜呈(0002)取向。基于该种结构的SAW紫外探测器对紫外光的反应时间仅3 s,其紫外探测的灵敏度高达36.4×10-6/mW/cm2。     

基于喷墨打印的可实现敏感材料原位沉积和高温检测的柔性丙酮气体传感器

通过离子交换技术对衬底表面改性,然后喷墨打印掩膜图形,在聚酰亚胺衬底两面分别制备了银叉指电极和加热电阻.通过调节电阻加热器两端的直流偏压,实现25 ℃~280 ℃的控温加热.集成的加热器具有双重功能:纳米ZnO敏感薄膜原位沉积和高温检测.结果表明,该传感器对丙酮气体的灵敏度随温度单调增加(<150 ℃).此外,加热器促进了ZnO敏感薄膜表面丙酮气体分子的解吸,缩短了传感器响应和恢复时间,并减小了初始电阻的漂移.此外,在丙酮检测中,加热器能有效地减少湿度干扰.     

Effect of Mg doping on the hydrogen-sensing characteristics of ZnO thin films

Undoped ZnO and Mg_0.1Zn_0.9O films, both with good crystalline quality and smooth surface, were grown on c-cut sapphire by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. Hydrogen-sensing measurements indicated that the MZO film showed much higher H₂ sensing performance than the undoped ZnO film did. The sensor response is 2.9 for undoped ZnO film to 5000 ppm H₂ at 300 °C. The gas response increased to about 50 for the MZO film measured under the same condition. To understand the enhancement of the sensing performances of the MZO film, the gas sensing mechanism of the films was proposed and discussed.     

ZnO纳米棒修饰的QCM气体传感器检测NH_3研究

主要介绍了ZnO纳米棒修饰的石英晶体微天平(QCM)气体传感器的制备与测试。采用两步法在石英晶振片表面制备直径为100 nm的ZnO纳米棒敏感膜,构成QCM NH3传感器。检测系统为自主研发的基于LabVIEW平台的QCM气体传感器频率测试软件。检测NH3的体积分数为5×10-6~50×10-6,响应时间均在10 s以内,最大频差值为10.9 Hz,响应最大频差值与NH3体积分数呈现良好的线性关系。室温条件下,ZnO纳米棒敏感膜可以完全实现吸附解吸过程,具有可逆性。该传感器性能稳定,响应灵敏,具有重复性。     

常压等离子体射流沉积ZnO及其传感特性研究

提出了一种环保、高效、低成本的传感器制作方法.应用等离子体射流喷枪沉积ZnO半导体材料,其中等离子体射流喷枪的气源为N2,电源采用输出频率为20 kHz的高频高压电源.使用Zn(NO3)2的水溶液作为前驱物,经过雾化装置形成气溶胶,气溶胶在等离子体的氛围中成功在衬底上沉积出一层ZnO半导体材料,通过XRD、SEM、UV-Vis等对其进行表征分析.并对基于该方法制备的ZnO湿度传感器性能进行表征.ZnO沉积时间为5 min时的灵敏度最高,低湿和高湿下分别为0.435 pF/% RH和19.634 pF/% RH,同时该样品的迟滞、响应时间与恢复时间亦是最优.     

Highly sensitive mass sensor using film bulk acoustic resonator

Film bulk acoustic resonators (FBAR) have recently been adopted as alternatives to surface acoustic wave (SAW) in high frequency devices, due to their inherent advantages, such as low insertion loss, high power handling capability and small size. FBAR device can also be one of the standard components as mass sensor applications. FBAR sensors have high sensitivity, good linearity, low hysteresis and wide adaptability. In this study, a highly sensitive mass sensor using film bulk acoustic resonator was developed. The device structure of FBAR is simulated and designed by the Mason model, and fabricated using micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) processes. The fabricated FBAR sensor exhibits a resonant frequency of 2442.188 MHz, measured using an HP8720 network analyzer and a CASCADE probe station. Experimental results indicate that the mass loading effects agree with the simulated ones. Results of this study demonstrate that the sensitivity of the device can be achieved as high as 3654 Hz cm²/ng.