Investigation of nanostructured Pd–Ag/n-ZnO thin film based Schottky junction for methane sensing

Undoped nanocrystalline n-type ZnO thin film was deposited by chemical deposition technique on a thermally oxidized p-Si (~5 Ω cm resistivity and <100> orientation) substrate. Formation of stable zinc oxide thin film was confirmed by two-dimensional X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and EDX analysis. The average crystallite size of the ZnO sample was evaluated as ~50 nm. The surface was characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) that confirm the formation of nanocrystalline (grain size ~50 nm) ZnO thin film with surface roughness of ~100 nm. Good conversion of precursor into ZnO thin film in the chemical deposition method was evident by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). A small peak at 479 cm−1was observed in the FTIR spectrum confirming the formation of quartzite structure of the ZnO. The band gap (~3.44 eV) of the material was calculated from the optical absorption spectroscopy. To prepare Pd–Ag/n-ZnO Schottky junction, Pd–Ag contacts were taken by electron beam evaporation method. I–V characteristics of the junction were studied at different temperatures in inert and reducing ambient (N2 and N2 + CH4) with turn on voltage of around 0.2 V. The parameters like ideality factor (η), saturation current (I0), series resistance (Rs), and barrier height (ΦBO) of the junction were calculated in the temperature range 50–200 °C in N2 as well as in 1 % CH4 + N2 ambient. It was observed that the ideality factor decreases in the temperature range 50–200 °C (η = 12.34 at 50 °C and η = 1.52 at 200 °C) in N2 ambient and η = 1.18 in N2 +CH4 ambient at 200 °C. Schottky Barrier Height (ΦBO) of the Pd–Ag/n-ZnO junction was found to increase with temperature. A close observation of Pd–Ag/n-ZnO junction in the presence of methane was performed to appreciate its application as methane sensor. The sensing mechanism was illustrated by a simplified energy band diagram.