Hydrogen sensors based on electrophoretically deposited Pd nanoparticles onto InP

Electrophoretic deposition of palladium nanoparticles prepared by the reverse micelle technique onto InP substrates is addressed. We demonstrate that the substrate pre-deposition treatment and the deposition conditions can extensively influence the morphology of the deposited palladium nanoparticle films. Schottky diodes based on these films show notably high values of the barrier height and of the rectification ratio giving evidence of a small degree of the Fermi level pinning. Moreover, electrical characteristics of these diodes are exceptionally sensitive to the exposure to gas mixtures with small hydrogen content.