Carbon-Modified Titanium Dioxide Deposited by E-Beam Aiming Hydrogen Sensing

Titanium dioxide films deposited by e-beam evaporation were analyzed by ellipsometry, Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) and, Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and Wavelength-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (WDX) conducted in a Scanning Electron Microspy (SEM). It was noteworthy that titanium dioxide films appeared to be of uniform thickness, stoichiometric phase (since a suitable deposition pressure is used) and with low root mean square roughness (RMS=1.95nm). The behavior of the films under annealing in Forming Gas (90% N2 and 10% H2) was also evaluated qualitatively, demonstrating that the film resistivity increases as the annealing temperature increases due to the hydrogen adsorption mechanism and the presence of carbon trace (up to 1.5% weight).