Photoluminescence-based oxygen sensor with platinum-octaethylporphyrin dye integrated into oxidized porous silicon layer

Photoluminescence quenching-based sensors for oxygen detection are generally made with organic dyes molecules that act as active molecules. These molecules are normally immobilized into polymeric host substrate that doesn´t have any compatibility with silicon technology. In this work we report a photoluminescence (PL) quenching based oxygen sensor using oxidized porous silicon layer as a host matrix for platinum-octaethylporphyrin (PtOEP) dye molecules. The device in this substrate is high sensitivity because its high surface area and it may have high compatibility with silicon technology since porous silicon is obtained on silicon substrate. The sensitivity to O₂ detection of this sensor was 13 times higher than to conventional devices based on polystyrene layer and its response time was 3 times slower than polymeric based devices. In the present work, the detection mechanism and the response time of these sensors are discussed.