Post-deposition annealing temperature dependence TiO2-based EGFET pH sensor sensitivity

EGFET pH sensor is one type of pH sensor that is used to measure and determine pH of a solution. The sensing membrane of EGFET pH sensor plays vital role in the overall performance of the sensor. This paper studies the effects of different annealing temperature of the TiO2 sensing membranes towards sensitivity of EGFET pH sensor. Sol-gel spin coating was chosen as TiO2 deposition techniques since it is cost-effective and produces thin film with uniform thickness. Deposited TiO2 thin films were then annealed at different annealing temperatures and then were connected to the gate of MOSFET as a part of the EGFET pH sensor structure. The thin films now act as sensing membranes of the EGFET pH sensor and sensitivity of each sensing membrane towards pH was measured. From the results it was determined that sensing membrane annealed at 300 °C gave the highest sensitivity followed by sample annealed at 400 °C and 500 °C.