Palladium Doped Nano Porous Silicon to Enhance Hydrogen Sensing

A mass manufacturable impedance based, palladium doped porous silicon sensor, was fabricated for hydrogen detection. The sensor was built using electrochemical etching to produce mesoporous silicon. Four nanometers of palladium was defused directly into the porous silicon and another four nanometers of Pd was deposited on the defused surface to enhance sensing. The sensor was tested in a sealed chamber in which the impedance was measured while hydrogen in nitrogen was ranged from 0-2 percent. Unlike conventional hydrogen sensors this sensor responded at room temperature to changes in hydrogen concentration. The electrical impedance response due to adsorption and desorption of hydrogen reacted relatively quickly due to the nanoparticle nature of palladium diffusion in and Pd evaporation on porous silicon