Towards High Quality V2O5 and VO2 Thin Films for Gas Sensing Smart Windows and Optoelectronic Applications

Abstract

The global demand for improved living standards coupled with rising pollutant or hazardous gases levels, safety and security demands have led to increased demand for miniaturized gas sensors and photodetectors. Production of conventional commercial photodetectors like InGaAs and Si usually involves expensive high vacuum techniques like MBE requiring special substrates like sapphire for their fabrication. Thus, there is urgent need to develop low-cost highly sensitive gas sensors and photodetectors to meet various applications. The choice of a material for those applications is crucial. Besides stability, cost-effectiveness and portability, a good sensor should exhibit high sensitivity and selectivity with fast response and recovery times at low limit of analyte detection. Vanadium oxides, particularly V2O5 and VO2 are potential candidates in that regard due to their unique properties. The layered structural nature of V2O5, its large optical band gap, thermal and chemical stability, excellent electrochromic and thermochromic properties makes it favorable for gas sensing. .. newline