Capacitor sensors hydrogen

SiC capacitor sensors have demonstrated gas-sensitivity to gases such as hydrogen and hydrocarbons [21, 46, 68] up to a maximum temperature of 1,000°C [1, 68]. Devices that can be operated both as MOS capacitors (reverse bias) and as Schottky diodes at temperatures greater than 490°C have also been demonstrated (see Section 2.4.2) [10]. These devices showed sensitivity to combustible gases such as propane, propylene, and CO and were tested at temperatures up to 640°C. 

The effect of the presence of water vapor on hydrogen detection at room temperature for C-I-S capacitor sensors is seen in Figure 16. The data show that water vapor tends to reduce the sensitivity to... 

The first question to ask when comparing various diode and capacitor sensor structures is how do their sensitivities compare. This question is answered for several hydrogen sensing structures in Table V. 

There are three major classes of palladium-based hydrogen sensors [4], The most popular class of palladium-based sensors is based on palladium resistors. A thin film of palladium deposited between two metal contacts shows a change in conductivity on exposure to hydrogen due to the phase transition in palladium. The palladium field-effect transistors (FETs) or capacitors constitute the second class, wherein the sensor architecture is in a transistor mode or capacitor configuration. The third class of palladium sensors includes optical sensors consisting of a layer of palladium coated on an optically active material that transforms the hydrogen concentration to an optical signal. 

The hydrogen sensitivity of palladinm-oxide-semiconductor (Pd-MOS) strnctnres was first reported hy Lnndstrom et al. in 1975 [61]. A variety of devices can he nsed as field-effect chemical sensor devices (Fignre 2.6) and these are introdnced in this section. The simplest electronic devices are capacitors and Schottky diodes. SiC chemical gas sensors based on these devices have been under development for several years. Capacitor devices with a platinum catalytic layer were presented in 1992 [62], and Schottky diodes with palladium gates the same year [63]. In 1999 gas sensors based on FET devices were presented [64, 65]. There are also a few publications where p-n junctions have been tested as gas sensor devices [66, 67]. 

Pd MOS STRUCTURES The Pd MOS device (capacitor and field effect transistor) has been extensively studied as a model chemical sensor system and as a practical element for the detection of hydrogen molecules in a gas. There have been two outstanding reviews of the status of the Pd MOS sensor with primary emphasis on the reactions at the surface (7,8). In this section, the use of the device as a model chemical sensor will be emphasized. As will be seen, the results are applicable not only to the Pd based devices, they also shed light on the operation of chemfet type systems as well. Because of its simplicity and the control that can be exercised in its fabrication, the discussion will focus on the study of the Pd-MOSCAP structure exclusively. The insights gained from these studies are immediately applicable to the more useful Pd-MOSFET. 

General Behavior. For the same reasons discussed in the diode performance section, most of the work on capacitor-type C-I-S sensors has focused on structures for detecting hydrogen or hydrogen-bearing gases. Consequently, this section will mainly examine the performance of C-I-S hydrogen sensors however, detection of CO will be discussed. 

Since the first hydrogen sensor based on a Pd-gate MOS capacitor with Si substrate was reported by Lundstrom et al. [71,72], solid-state gas sensors based on these two structures have been intensely investigated [73]. 

The test structures used were iridium - silicon dioxide-silicon capacitors with rather large area. Available commercial hydrogen and ammonia sensors consist, e.g., of a sensing element in the form of a transistor, a heater (a diffused resistor) and a temperature sensors (a pn-junction) on the same chip with dimensions smaller than about 1x1 mm. Research and development work is, however, in several cases most easily done on metal-insulator semiconductor capacitors mounted on a thermostatted sample holder. The description of the test structures, their fabrication and physics, given below is, however, very short. More details can be found in several of the references, e.g., ref. [1 — 3,8]. 

---