Fabrication and Characterization of Silicon Microchannel Plates as Temperature-Sensing Materials

Silicon microchannel plates (Si MCPs) are prepared by photo-assisted electrochemical etching (PAECE), and their temperature-sensing behavior based on the Seebeck effect is studied. In particular, the dependence of the temperature sensitivity on the orientation and pore size of the Si MCPs is determined in detail. Our results clarify the relationship between the temperature sensitivity and orientation of the Si MCPs. When the angle between the measured orientation and edge of the square micropore is 45°, the samples with pore dimensions of 5 μm × 5 μm and 3 μm × 3 μm show temperature sensitivities of 1.88 mV/°C and 0.93 mV/°C, respectively. In general, the sample with pore size of 5 μm × 5 μm exhibits higher sensitivity. Si MCPs which are compatible with integrated circuit (IC) processing have promising applications in integrated microtemperature sensing. © 2011 TMS.