Sensory properties of oxide films with high concentrations of conduction electrons

The dependence of a sensor’s response to hydrogen on the temperature and hydrogen pressure in an indium oxide nanostructured film is measured. A theory of sensor’s response to reducing gases in nanostructured semiconducting oxides with high concentrations of electrons in the conduction band is developed (using the example of In₂O₃). It is shown that the capture of conduction electrons by adsorbed oxygen redistributes the electrons in nanoparticles and reduces the surface electron density and the conductivity of a system; the conductivity is proportional to the electron density in nanoparticle contacts, i.e., to the surface electron density. It is found that atomic oxygen ions react with reducing gases (H₂, CO) during adsorption of the latter: electrons are released and enter the volumes of nanoparticles; the conductivity of the system grows, creating the sensory effect. Using a model developed earlier to describe the distribution of conduction electrons in a semiconductor nanoparticle, a kinetic scheme corresponding to the above scenario is built and corresponding equations are solved. As a result, a theoretical dependence of a sensor’s sensitivity to temperature is found that describes the experimental data well.