Tin dioxide (SnO₂) is the most-used semiconductor for gas sensing applications. However, lack of selectivity and humidity influence limit its potential usage. Antimony (Sb) doped SnO₂ showed unique electrical and chemical properties, since the introduction of Sb ions leads to the creation of a new shallow band level and of oxygen vacancies acting as donors in SnO₂. Although low-doped SnO₂:Sb demonstrated an improvement of the sensing performance compared to pure SnO₂, there is a lack of investigation on this material. To fill this gap, we focused this work on the study of gas sensing properties of highly doped SnO₂:Sb. Morphology, crystal structure and elemental composition were characterized, highlighting that Sb doping hinders SnO₂ grain growth and decreases crystallinity slightly, while lattice parameters expand after the introduction of Sb ions into the SnO₂ crystal. XRF and EDS confirmed the high purity of the SnO₂:Sb powders, and XPS highlighted a higher Sb concentration compared to XRF and EDS results, due to a partial Sb segregation on superficial layers of Sb/SnO₂. Then, the samples were exposed to different gases, highlighting a high selectivity to NO₂ with a good sensitivity and a limited influence of humidity. Lastly, an interpretation of the sensing mechanism vs. NO₂ was proposed.

Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) gas sensors are widely used for gas detection. Typically, the hotplate element is the key component in MOS gas sensors which provide a proper and tunable operation temperature. However, the low power efficiency of the standard hotplates greatly limits the portable application of MOS gas sensors. The miniaturization of the hotplate geometry is one of the most effective methods used to reduce its power consumption. In this work, a new method is presented, combining electron beam lithography (EBL) and focused ion beam (FIB) technologies to obtain low power consumption. EBL is used to define the low-resolution section of the electrode, and FIB technology is utilized to pattern the high-resolution part. Different Au⁺⁺ ion fluences in FIBs are tested in different milling strategies. The resulting devices are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Furthermore, the electrical resistance of the hotplate is measured at different voltages, and the operational temperature is calculated based on the Pt temperature coefficient of resistance value. In addition, the thermal heater and electrical stability is studied at different temperatures for 110 h. Finally, the implementation of the fabricated hotplate in ZnO gas sensors is investigated using ethanol at 250 °C.