Chemical vapour infiltration of nano-structured carbon in porous silicon

For the first time the results of the chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) of nanostructured sp2 carbon in meso-porous 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.