Characterization of Pulsed-Laser Deposited CuO-Doped MgO Thin Films for Gas Sensing Applications

Abstract

In this work, pure and doped magnesium oxide (MgO) thin films doped with different concentrations (0.05, 0.07 and 0.1 wt.%) of copper oxide (CuO) were deposited on glass substrates by pulsed-laser deposition technique to fabricate gas sensors. The x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of prepared MgO:CuO nanostructures exhibit that the films are polycrystalline with tetragonal rutile phase for MgO and monoclinic phase for CuO. The transmittance and energy gap of all prepared samples were decreased while the absorption coefficient was increased with increasing CuO content. The effects of varying operation temperature of the fabricated gas sensors on sensor sensitivity and response time were studied. Maximum sensitivity of about 99.34% was determined for pure MgO.