AVS 47th International Symposium
    MEMS Wednesday Sessions
       Session MM-WeP

Paper MM-WeP2
Electrical and Spectroscopic Characterization of Palladium Implanted Elevated Temperature Silicon Carbide Chemical Sensors

Wednesday, October 4, 2000, 11:00 am, Room Exhibit Hall C & D

Session: Poster Session
Presenter: C.I. Muntele, Alabama A&M University
Authors: C.I. Muntele, Alabama A&M University
P. McCarty, University of Alabama, Huntsville
I. Muntele, Alabama A&M University
D. Ila, Alabama A&M University
J.J. Weimer, University of Alabama, Huntsville
M.A. George, University of Alabama, Huntsville
D.J. Larkin, NASA Glenn Research Center
D.B. Poker, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
D.K. Hensley, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
Silicon carbide is a promising material for creating microelectromechanical devices and integrated chemical sensors capable of working at room temperature as well as at high temperatures, and in harsh environments. This team has developed a unique miniaturized SiC chemical sensor that operates from room temperature to above the temperatures (300-500oC) of previously reported semiconductor based chemical sensors. To produce these sensors, we have implanted Pd ions at energies between 100 keV to a few MeV into the Si face of 6H-SiC at both room temperature and at 5000C. The peak concentration of implanted Pd was kept between .01% to 10% of the host. The electrical properties of fabricated sensors were measured at room temperature up to 500oC. We will discuss both the preparation and characterization of these sensors. In order to understand the sensing mechanism of specifically implanted samples, the change in the chemical structure of SiC at the surface and near the implant layers were analyzed using ESCA, micro Ramman, UV absorption spectroscopy and Raman techniques both before and immediately after exposure to hydrogen and Methane. The location of the implanted species was simulated using TRIM code as well as using RBS techniques. We will report the correlation of this simulation to the experimental results obtained from measurements of electrical properties, optical properties and surface analysis Research sponsored by the NASA Grant No. NG3-2302, and partially by the Center for Irradiation of Materials of Alabama A&M University and the Division of Materials Sciences, U.S. Dept. of Energy, under contract DE-AC05-96OR22464 with Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp.