The Deposition and Characteristics of Ni Thin Films according to Annealing Conditions for the Application of Thermal Flow Sensors

In this work, Ni thin films with different thickness from $1,523{\AA}\;to\;9,827{\AA}$ were deposited for the application of micro thermal flow sensors by a magnetron sputtering and oxidized through annealing at $450^{\circ}C$ with increasing annealing time. The initial variation of resistivity decreased radically with increasing films thickness, then gradually stabilizes as the thickness increases. The resistivity of Ni thin films with $3,075{\AA}$ increased suddenly with increasing annealing time at $450{\circ}C$, then gradually stabilizes as the thickness increases after the annealing time 9 h. In case of $3,075{\AA}\;and\;9,827{\AA}$ films, the average of TCR values, measured for the operating temperature range of $0^{\circ}C\;to\;180^{\circ}C$, were $2,413.1ppm/^{\circ}C\;and\;4,438.5ppm/^{\circ}C$, respectively. Because of their high resistivity and very linear TCR, Ni oxide thin films are superior to pure Ni and Pt thin films for flow and temperature sensor applications.