Influence of texture coefficient on surface morphology and sensing properties of W-doped nanocrystalline tin oxide thin films.

For the first time, a new facile approach based on simple and inexpensive chemical spray pyrolysis (CSP) technique is used to deposit Tungsten (W) doped nanocrystalline SnO2 thin films. The textural, optical, structural and sensing properties are investigated by GAXRD, UV spectroscopy, FESEM, AFM, and home-built sensing setup. The gas sensing results indicate that, as compared to pure SnO2, 1 wt % W-doping improves sensitivity along with better response (<2 s) and recovery time (<25 s) toward NO2 gas at operating temperatures of ∼225 °C. The optimal composition of 1 wt % W-doped films exhibit lowest crystallite size of the order of ∼8-10 nm with reduced energy band gap and large roughness values of 3.82 eV and 3.01 nm, respectively. Reduction in texture coefficient along highly dense (110) planes with concomitant increase along loosely packed (200) planes is found to have prominent effect on gas sensing properties of W-doped films.