Evaluation of the charge carriers’ transportation through the grown MgFe2O4 on the nanotextured silicon surface in the presence of hydrogen gases

Abstract

Here, we report, for the first time, the solution growth of n-type MgFe2O4 spinel ferrite nanoparticles on nano-textured p-type silicon (100) substrate. Water soluble MgFe2O4 spinel ferrite nanoparticles are prepared by polyol technique. The MgFe2O4 spinel ferrite nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy both at low and high resolution, selected area electron diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The texturing of the surface of the Si(100) substrate to create well-organized nanopillar-like shapes was carried out by a nanosecond laser lithography technique. The water soluble MgFe2O4 spinel ferrite nanoparticles were deposited on the textured Si(100) substrate. The sample was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The charge carriers transport mechanism was discussed in terms of the variation of the barrier height under the exposure to various gases. A comparison between the MgFe2O4 spinel ferrite nanoparticles grown on planar and textured p-type Si(100) surfaces showed that the latter demonstrated an improvement of gas sensitivity and accelerated response time. These two characteristics, combined with high performance stability, make these sensors promising for practical applications.