Porous Silicon Based Humidity Sensor

Porous silicon (PS) is well known as a photovoltaic material. However, in the last couple of years, research has focused on the use of porous silicon as chemical-biological sensors. This paper discusses the use of PS as an optical humidity sensor. Photo-luminescence (PL) quenching measurements in a controlled humidity atmosphere (mixed Nitrogen gas and water vapor) were performed to test the sensor response towards the water vapor. Surface morphologies of the PS samples were characterized by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and structural properties were investigated via Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. It was found that PS surface is very sensitive to the water vapor. The experimental results suggested that PS surface is a promising candidate material to be used as a humidity sensor.