Chemical vapour infiltration of nano-structured carbon in porous silicon

For the first time the results of the chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) of nanostructured sp(2) carbon in mesoporous silicon layers under process conditions normally used to grow diamond films by Hot Filament Chemical Vapour Deposition (HFCVD) are presented. The combined use of micro-Raman spectroscopy and Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscopy (FEG-SEM) clearly demonstrated that disordered graphitic carbon was infiltrated in the PS pores, thus permeating completely the PS layer. Such a nanostructured carbon infiltration provided new properties to the PS material, which are potentially of great relevance for opto-electronics and sensors applications. (c) 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.