Influence of annealing in deposited Ti-Pt thin films sensing elements for quartz crystals microbalances

This work discusses the effect of annealing heat treatment on deposited thin films for quartz crystal microbalances (QCMs), intended to be used for thermogravimetric analysis at high temperatures. The developed QCMs comprise embedded deposited resistors that can be employed either as heaters or temperature sensors, which are manufactured by particle vapor deposition of a bilayer of Ti-Pt microfilm. There is evidence in the literature that the annealing heating treatment affects the electrical resistance and the thermal coefficient of resistance (TCR) of this type of microfilm, especially in high-temperature ranges. It was found that for the analyzed conditions, i.e. with annealing temperatures varying between 250°C and 350°C, a general increase of the TCR is obtained, providing an improvement of the sensitivity of the resistors for the expected temperature measurement range.