In order to extend the dynamic range of a hydrogen sensor with a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) type structure, Pd-Cr and Pd-Ni alloy gated samples were studied. The PdCr gated sample shows quite stable and reproducible response, and could measure hydrogen concentrations from 100 to 50, 000 ppm. While the Pd-Ni gated sample shows turn-on/off response drift, this drift is probably due to the presence of oxygen on the surface of the insulator and the formation of metal hydride. Furthermore, the effect of oxygen on the sensors response was investigated; oxygen may deplete protons from the metal/insulator interface and could reduce the sensor's response.

Anatase-TiO2 films (thickness 100-1000 nm) were grown on glass, sapphire, and Si(100) substrates using pulsed dc-magnetron reactive sputtering. By measuring the curvature of substrates before and after the thin film deposition, the residual stresses were determined. These results clearly show that the bi-axial stresses are compressive type and decreases with the increasing film thickness. The Raman spectra of these films were measured with two different excitation wavelengths (514 and 785 nm) and the thickness dependent shifts of Eg phonon mode were studied. The dominant 144 cm-1 Eg mode in TiO2 anatase clearly shifts to a higher value by 0.45 to 17.4 cm-1 depending on the type of substrate and the thickness of the film. Maximum shift was seen for the films on glass substrate indicating a higher bi-axial compressive stress in agreement with the curvature measurements. The excitation wavelength dependent shift of Eg mode clearly shows that the bi-axial stress increases along the film depth, being larger at the film/substrate interface.

TiO2 anatase thin films with different thickness (100 – 1200 nm) have been deposited on glass, sapphire and Si(100) substrates using pulsed DC magnetron reactive sputtering. The thin films were exposed to carbon monoxide (CO) gas at different concentrations (20–100 ppm) in a nitrogen carrier, and the resistance was measured as a function of the CO concentration for films of different thicknesses for temperatures in the range of (100 - 300°C). The films with good crystalline order showed better response than amorphous films. The response increased monotonically with CO concentration. The thicker films showed higher sensitivity. The anatase films deposited on sapphire generally had a larger response than those deposited on glass or on silicon. The films on sapphire substrate showed good response at temperatures as high as 300°C, while those deposited on glass and silicon had good responses only to 200°C. Furthermore, the addition of different concentrations of O2 and H2 affected the response as expected. The response to CO in the presence of N2 showed good reversibility which is evidence that complete regeneration on turn off the CO does not require exposure to oxygen or air. The response and the recovery times are fast.

TiO2 thin films (500 – 1000 nm in thickness) were deposited using pulsed DC magnetron reactive sputtering, on glass substrates. The depositions used a Ti source in an Ar+O2 gas mixture with different parameters of power (350 - 500W), substrate temperature (no additional heat - 400°C), growth pressure (3.0 - 5.0 mTorr) and oxygen gas flow rate (6.0 - 8.0 sccm). The x-ray diffractions (XRD) show amorphous and/or anatase phases depending on the deposition conditions. The films were found to be amorphous at lower substrate temperature and at lower powers. The sample with 4 mTorr, 400W of power, a substrate temperature of 250 C with 7.0 sccm of oxygen flow has the best crystalline quality. The temperature dependent electrical conductivity measurement in air for the above films shows an exponential increase in conductivity with temperature.

An MIS Hydrogen sensor with a Pd0.96Cr0.04/AlN/Si structure was fabricated, exhibiting the dynamic range considerably wider than that of analogous devices with pure Pd gates. A useful response could be obtained for Hydrogen concentrations as large as 50, 000 ppm. Although the response amplitude was much reduced at the lower concentrations, satisfactory signal to noise down to 50 ppm could be obtained. The saturating magnitude of the electrical response is in the range of 0.1 to 0.5 V, which is the same as that for the pure Pd gated devices, inspite of the 3 orders of magnitude difference in the saturation hydrogen concentration. This result will be discussed in terms of the response mechanism of these devices.