Electrical Properties of Alcohol Vapor Sensors Based on Porous Silicon

In this work, we fabricated a gas-sensing device based on porous silicon(PS), and its C-V properties were investigated for sensing alcohol vapor. The structure of the sensor consists of thin Au/oxidized PS/PS/P-Si/Al, where the p-Si is etched anisotropically to be prepared into a membrane-shape. We used alcohol gases vaporized from different alcohol (or ethanol) solutions mixed with pure water at 36$^{\circ}C$, similarly with an alcohol breath measurement to check drunk driving. As the result, I-V curves showed typical tunneling property, and C-V curves were shaped like those of a MIS (metal-insulator-semiconductor) capacitor, where the capacitance in accumulation was increased with alcohol vapor concentration.