Porous Silicon for Chemical Sensors

Abstract

Abstract.In this work we highlight the advantages of using Porous Silicon (PS) as a material for chemical sensors. Two different applications of PS are investigated: (a) as a matrix for the inclusion of catalytic materials, such as Pd or Pt, and (b) as a material for the fabrication of suspended micro hotplates, for improved thermal isolation. For the first application, the catalytic behavior of Pd-doped PS samples is estimated and the parameters that influence the kinetics of the chemical reaction are evaluated. It is found that the catalytic activity of Pd-doped porous silicon is significantly higher than that of a planar surface covered with Pd. On the other hand, the effectiveness of PS for local thermal isolation on a silicon substrate is examined and the thermal properties of suspended porous silicon (PS) micro-hotplates are investigated. The micro-hotplates are fabricated by a novel technique, based on the isotropic etching of silicon under a PS layer, in a high density plasma reactor. Very high local temperatures on the micro-hotplates (higher than 600 o C) with very low power consumption (only a few tens of mW) have been obtained, due to the very low thermal conductivity of PS, which is comparable to that of thermal oxide and it is much lower than that of silicon nitride, typically used for thermal sensor applications.

Probing on the Stable Structure of Silicon-Doped Charged Magnesium Nanomaterial Sensor: SiMgn±1 (N = 2−12) Clusters DFT Study

“…Magnesium and silicon, as important optoelectronics and semiconductor sensor materials, have been the frontier of material science (Delgado et al, 2004;Capitán-Vallvey et al, 2006;Wang et al, 2015;Pradeep et al, 2017). With the widespread application of IoT sensors, the development and research of magnesium or silicon sensor at nanoscale with small size and good performance are increasingly sought after by researchers (Shukla et al, 2004;Pham et al, 2014).…”

A Mini Review: Recent Advances in Surface Modification of Porous Silicon

“…The pSi materials have been widely used in various industries and basic science. Due to a significant amount of research and the discovery of quantum confinement effects, photoluminescence, and photonic crystal properties of pSi [5,6,7,8,9], the focus has mostly been on creating optoelectronic materials [10,11], displays [12,13], sensors [14,15,16], and bio-imaging materials [17,18]. Recently, the pSi micro- and nano-particles have been applied to drug delivery systems and controlled release systems, by using the biodegradation property of pSi [18,19,20,21,22].…”