Nano-porous indium oxide transistor sensor for the detection of ethanol vapours at room temperature

Abstract

Porous indium oxide thin film prepared by the dip coating technique has been used in the construction of a field effect transistor. The coating solution was prepared from indium chloride precursor. The average particle size of the dip coated thin film was found to be 25 nm. Scanning electron microscopic images show the porous nature of the film, and the root mean square roughness of the film calculated using atomic force microscope was 24 nm. A transistor has been constructed by evaporating metal Aluminium as source and drain electrodes on the indium oxide active layer and employing the silicon substrate itself as a gate. The sensor response of the constructed transistor was tested with ethanol, ammonia and acetone vapours. The sensor showed good response to ethanol vapours even at 5-ppm level, and the time for response and recovery of the gas was nearly 1 min. Response to ammonia and acetone was comparatively poor. When the gate voltage was increased from 0 to 300 mV, a considerable increase in the source-drain current was observed. As the temperature of the sensing element increased, response to ethanol vapours also increased. There was nearly a linear variation in the transistor response for 100 ppm of ethanol vapours when the gate voltage was swept from 0 to 300 mV. The sensor response of the transistor increases with the gas concentration. The constructed transistor was found to be selectively sensitive to ethanol; therefore it can be implemented to work as a breath alcohol checker.