Structural properties and sensing characteristics of thin Nd₂ O₃ sensing films for pH detection

In this article, the structural properties and pH sensing characteristics of Nd₂ O₃ sensing films deposited on Si(100) substrates through reactive sputtering were reported. X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy were used to explore the structural and morphological features of these films with annealing at various temperatures. We found that the Nd₂ O₃ films annealed at 700°C exhibit a higher sensitivity of 56.01 mV/pH, a lower hysteresis voltage of 4.71 mV, and a smaller drift rate of 1.34 mV/h than that of the other thermal annealing conditions.