Resistance response of a nanoporous silicon gas sensor in the presence of alcohol vapour
Abstract
Alcohol vapour based on nanoporous silicon was fabricated from 1.00 cm 1.75 cm p+ type silicon (100) in HF ethanoic solution via electrochemical etching. The surface morphology of the fabricated nanoporous silicon was characterized using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM). The structure of this sensor consists of porous silicon layer and silver electrode which is deposited on the surface of sensor. The sensing ability of porous silicon towards organic vapour was studied. The sensitivity of the sensor was determined as the ratio of the resistivity of structures in the presence of investigated gas to that in air. The resistance of porous silicon increased in the presence of alcohol vapour. It is found that the fabricated sensor can detect different concentration of alcohol vapour from 250 ppm to 1000 ppm.