Porous Silicon Gas Sensors: The Role of the Layer Thickness and the Silicon Conductivity
"> Figure 1
<p>Metallic electrodes. (<b>a</b>) The geometric pattern consisted of two electrodes, each electrode was formed with two concentric no-closed rings of 1 mm width, a line of the same width connected them. (<b>b</b>) A photograph of the mask used to deposit the electrodes, made by lithography. (<b>c</b>) A photograph of the top view of a porous silicon sample; the area of the circle is porous silicon. The bulk silicon around and under the porous silicon serves as the substrate. (<b>d</b>) A photograph of a porous sensor with aluminium electrodes deposited on the porous area. The diameter of the outer no-closed ring was 17 mm.</p> "> Figure 2
<p>Sensing reactor scheme. 1. Gas input, 2. Electric connections, 3. Sensor holder, 4. Temperature measurement, 5. Sensor, 6. Sealed reactor (quartz), 7. Gas exhaust. The characterizations were made in darkness at 27 <math display="inline"><semantics> <msup> <mrow/> <mo>∘</mo> </msup> </semantics></math>C.</p> "> Figure 3
<p>Porous sensor response, Si n-type with 0.0015–0.004 <math display="inline"><semantics> <mi mathvariant="sans-serif">Ω</mi> </semantics></math>·cm resistivity, connected to a 5 V DC supply. The porosity was 45% and the thicknesses of the porous layers were 1, 5, and 10 <math display="inline"><semantics> <mi mathvariant="sans-serif">μ</mi> </semantics></math>m; labeled as N01, N05, and N10, respectively. The dead time was around 30 s.</p> "> Figure 4
<p>Porous sensor response, Si p-type with 0.01–0.02 <math display="inline"><semantics> <mi mathvariant="sans-serif">Ω</mi> </semantics></math>·cm resistivity, connected to a 5 V DC supply. The porosity was 45% and the thicknesses of the porous layers were 1, 5, and 10 <math display="inline"><semantics> <mi mathvariant="sans-serif">μ</mi> </semantics></math>m; labeled as P01, P05, and P10, with dead times of 115, 152, and 247 s, respectively.</p> "> Figure 5
<p>The stability of the response. The sensors were exposed to EtOH vapour for an extended duration (more than two hours) arbitrarily. (<b>a</b>) The response of the n-type porous sensors.The responses reached stability and they recovered when the flow of EtOH stops. (<b>b</b>) The response of the p-type porous. The stability was not achieved. The exposure was stopped after 2, 4, and 6 h for P05, P01, and P10, respectively. Only the recovery of P05 was observed, due to the long time of the measurements.</p> "> Figure 6
<p>The sensitivity of the response at a lower vapour pressure (11.76 mmHg). The temperature of the chamber remained at 27 °C (<b>a</b>) Porous sensor N01. The response of the sensor at 58.73 mmHg, labeled as N01_A, had a similar shape than its response at 11.76 mmHg, labeled as N01_B, but was less intense. (<b>b</b>) Porous sensor P01. The first cycle (first 20 min) of the response of the sensor at 58.73 mmHg, labeled as P10_A, was different than its response at 11.76 mmHg, labeled as P10_B, and less intense. The current, in the cycles, was under 0 mA because the baseline was subtracted from the original response so that the intensity of the responses started at zero and can be compared.</p> "> Figure 7
<p>Electrical model. (<b>a</b>) The <span class="html-italic">RC</span> circuit used to obtain the experimental response where <span class="html-italic">R</span> was the parallel of <span class="html-italic">R<sub>sr</sub></span> with <span class="html-italic">R<sub>sb</sub></span>. (<b>b</b>) <span class="html-italic">R</span> versus <span class="html-italic">R<sub>sr</sub></span> with fixed <span class="html-italic">R<sub>sb</sub></span> of 1, 5, and 10 kΩ.</p> "> Figure 8
<p>The <span class="html-italic">RC</span> circuit response. (<b>a</b>) Normalized response R vs. time with <span class="html-italic">C</span> = 0.1 F and R = 1, 5, and 10 kΩ. (<b>b</b>) Three cycles of 20 min, with 10 min for the exposure period and 10 for the recovery period.</p> ">
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Porous Silicon
2.2. Metallic Electrodes
2.3. Characterization
3. Results and Discussion
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
c-Si | Crystalline silicon |
PS | Porous silicon |
HF | Hydrofluoric acid |
EtOH | Ethanol |
Ethanol vapor flow | |
Nitrogen flow | |
Ethanol vapor pressure | |
Total pressure | |
Resistance related to the substrate resistivity | |
Resistance related to the sensor surface | |
C | Capacitor |
R | Resistance |
RC | Resistor–capacitor circuit |
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Type | Sample | Thickness (m) | Current Density (mA/cm) | Time (s) | Porosity (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
N01 | 1 | 10 | 82 | 45 | |
n | N05 | 5 | 10 | 413 | 45 |
N10 | 10 | 10 | 825 | 45 | |
P01 | 1 | 13.6 | 64 | 45 | |
p | P05 | 5 | 13.6 | 321 | 45 |
P10 | 10 | 13.6 | 642 | 45 |
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Ramírez-González, F.; García-Salgado, G.; Rosendo, E.; Díaz, T.; Nieto-Caballero, F.; Coyopol, A.; Romano, R.; Luna, A.; Monfil, K.; Gastellou, E. Porous Silicon Gas Sensors: The Role of the Layer Thickness and the Silicon Conductivity. Sensors 2020, 20, 4942. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20174942
Ramírez-González F, García-Salgado G, Rosendo E, Díaz T, Nieto-Caballero F, Coyopol A, Romano R, Luna A, Monfil K, Gastellou E. Porous Silicon Gas Sensors: The Role of the Layer Thickness and the Silicon Conductivity. Sensors. 2020; 20(17):4942. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20174942
Chicago/Turabian StyleRamírez-González, Francisco, Godofredo García-Salgado, Enrique Rosendo, Tomás Díaz, Fabiola Nieto-Caballero, Antonio Coyopol, Román Romano, Alberto Luna, Karim Monfil, and Erick Gastellou. 2020. "Porous Silicon Gas Sensors: The Role of the Layer Thickness and the Silicon Conductivity" Sensors 20, no. 17: 4942. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20174942
APA StyleRamírez-González, F., García-Salgado, G., Rosendo, E., Díaz, T., Nieto-Caballero, F., Coyopol, A., Romano, R., Luna, A., Monfil, K., & Gastellou, E. (2020). Porous Silicon Gas Sensors: The Role of the Layer Thickness and the Silicon Conductivity. Sensors, 20(17), 4942. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20174942