Abstract:
An electrode for an ionization chamber and an ionization chamber including an electrode are provided wherein the electrode comprises a substrate comprising a first material, and a plurality of nanowires extending from the substrate and manufactured by processing the first material of the substrate.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention relates to an electrode for an ionization chamber. 
         [0002]    The invention further relates an ionization chamber, in particular it relates to an ionization detector. 
         [0003]    Moreover, the invention relates to a method of producing an electrode for an ionization chamber. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    Although gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GCMS) is a robust and reliable technique to monitor and determine constituents of a gas sample, the significant size and cost has appealed for inexpensive and smaller detection methods. Nowadays, sensor manufacturers are producing instruments that have more advanced detection capabilities and cover a wider range of advanced applications by using micromachined technology. While continuing to use mature technologies, vehicle manufacturers for example are increasing the sophistication of the electronic systems used in their products. Many manufacturers clamor for chemical sensors to provide real-time analysis of, for example, exhaust fumes and determine the concentration of hydrocarbons in fuel vapors recovery systems. 
         [0005]    In general, gas sensors operate by a variety of fundamentally different mechanisms. Ionization sensors work by fingerprinting the ionization characteristics of distinct gases, but they are limited by their huge bulky architecture. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    Thus, there may be a need to provide an improved electrode for an ionization chamber, an ionization chamber and a method producing an electrode for an ionization chamber, wherein the ionization chamber may have a smaller size, and may be operated at a small voltage. 
         [0007]    In order to meet the need defined above, an electrode for an ionization chamber, an ionization chamber, and a method of producing an electrode for an ionization chamber according to the independent claims are provided. 
         [0008]    According to an exemplary embodiment an electrode for an ionization chamber is provided wherein the electrode comprises a substrate comprising a first material, and a plurality of nanowires extending from the substrate and manufactured by processing the first material of the substrate. 
         [0009]    According to an exemplary embodiment an ionization chamber is provided wherein the ionization chamber comprises an electrode according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention a cavity, and an further electrode, wherein a tip region of at least some or all of the plurality of nanowires extend into the cavity, and wherein the further electrode is arranged in such a way that the tip region and the electrode are facing each other. In particular, the cavity may be enclosed at least on one side by the further electrode, e.g. the further electrode may form a wand of the cavity, and the further electrode and the tip region, e.g. a region of the nanowires not covered by a dielectric layer, may face each other but may be not in direct contact, i.e. may be separated from each other. 
         [0010]    According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention a method of manufacturing an electrode is provided, wherein the method comprises providing a substrate, and patterning the substrate in such a way that a plurality of nanowires are generated which extend from the substrate by processing the substrate. 
         [0011]    In this application, the term “ionization chamber” may particularly denote any device or housing which is adapted to ionize a fluid, e.g. a gas or fluid, and/or to detect such an ionized fluid, e.g. an ionization detector. Such an ionization chamber may in particular be adapted to be coupled to and/or may comprise a voltage or energy source, e.g. a battery. 
         [0012]    In this application, the term “nanowires” may particularly denote any small structure comprising or made of electrically conductive material. In particular, an extension or size of the nanowire in a first or longitudinal direction may be larger than in the directions perpendicular to that longitudinal direction, so that a wire like structure is formed. Moreover, the size of the whole nanowire is in the low micrometer or submicrometer range. For example, the extension in the longitudinal direction may be between a couple of micrometers, e.g. about 20 μm, and several nanometres, e.g. 50 nm, while the diameter of the nanowire may be in the range of about 2 nm to about 200 nm. In particular, a nanowire may have a length of between about 100 nm and about 10 μm and may have a diameter of between about 5 nm and about 100 nm. More particularly, the nanowire may have a length between about 250 nm and about 1 μm and a diameter between about 10 nm and about 50 nm. 
         [0013]    An electrode according to an exemplary embodiment may provide a small sized electrode which may be manufactured by using known silicon technology contrary to electrodes which employ grown nanowires or nanotubes, e.g. carbon nanotubes. In particular, the use of the known silicon technology may reduce the costs and/or may increase the yield of the manufacturing process. In particular, it may be much easier to manufacture an array of nanowires having a predetermined or fixed relation or arrangement with respect to each other, when using the silicon technology, e.g. CMOS technology, as it would be when firstly growing carbon nanotubes which are then fixed to a substrate. Thus, it may be possible to provide micro/nanometer-scale devices that can be fabricated as discrete devices or large arrays, using the technology of integrated circuit manufacturing. Thus, simpler, standardized integrated chip component technology may be used. In particular, such micro/nanometer-scale devices may exhibit lower power consumption and may not need risky high-voltage operation as known heavy bulky devices. Moreover, a low operation voltage that may be compatible with CMOS devices may provide rapid response time together with a package size of the device of a few mm 3 , for example. Such miniature detectors or sensors may be designed and fabricated by integrating the sensors onto the same semiconductor substrate, e.g. form the nanowires from the substrate by processing the same, as the electronic circuitry. Consequently, the signal to noise ration may be enhanced as well as the sensitivity. Since standard batch processing, as in the IC industry, may be applicable to manufacturing electrodes of devices and the devices itself, a huge number of identical sensors may be producible in one run, thus possibly improving their performance/cost ratio. Furthermore, the miniaturization of sensors may not only contribute to their potentially low cost, but may also allow them to be integrated with microelectronic circuits, thus, possibly further enhancing their performance. 
         [0014]    Furthermore, it may even be possible to integrate the manufacturing process of the electrode into the manufacturing process of the whole micro/nanometer-scale devices, e.g. a micro/nanometer-scale ionization chamber or ionization detector so that no special component has to be integrated. In particular, the manufacturing process of the electrode may be a CMOS compatible integration scheme. 
         [0015]    Thus, a gist of an exemplary aspect of the invention may be seen in the fact that an electrode for a sensor and/or ionization chamber may be provided having a plurality of nanowires, which are formed by processing a semiconductor substrate. Such a processing may be done by well known structuring, e.g. by using known etching processes. Such etching processes may in particular lead to a well defined arrangement of the plurality of nanowires on the substrate, possibly leading to an improved performance of the sensor. In particular, a vertically aligned nanostructure array covering an electrode, e.g. a cathode, may be produced, which may be more compatible to produce a consistent nanometre-scale surface topology than conventional planar electrodes. 
         [0016]    Next, further exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described. 
         [0017]    In the following, further exemplary embodiments of the electrode for an ionization chamber will be explained. However, these embodiments also apply for the ionization chamber and the method of producing an electrode. 
         [0018]    According to another exemplary embodiment of the electrode the plurality of nanowires is manufactured by etching. Etching may be an efficient way to manufacture the nanowires out of the substrate, since etching procedures well known in the semiconductor technology may be used so that a high reproducibility of the nanowires and high accuracy of the achieved arrangement may be possible, Furthermore, the etching processes may be fully integrated into standard processes. 
         [0019]    According to another exemplary embodiment of the electrode at least some of the plurality of nanowires comprises a tip region. In particular, the tip region may be formed by a conical tip region, e.g. may be formed by a sharp tip. The provision of such tips in particular of sharp tips, may be a suitable measure to generate very high electric fields in case the tips are spaced from each other in such a way that no shielding or superimposing of the electric fields of the single tips occur. Such very high electric field may decrease the breakdown voltage so that a detector comprising such an electrode may exhibit an increased sensitivity and/or an increase performance when ionizing fluids. Thus, it may be possible to manufacture compact, possibly battery-powered and safe operation of such detectors. A sharp tip may in particular be characterized in that an opening angle of a sharp tip may be below 45°, preferably it may be below 30°. For instance, the opening angle may be between 10° and 25° or even below, e.g. between 5° and 10°. 
         [0020]    According to another exemplary embodiment of the electrode the first material is a semiconductor material. In particular, the base member may be a semiconductor substrate, e.g. a silicon substrate or a substrate comprising germanium as a material. 
         [0021]    According to another exemplary embodiment of the electrode at least some of the plurality of nanowires are at least partially silicided. In particular parts of the nanowires may be silicied or metallized by using any suitable silicide phase, e.g. by using TiSi 2  NiSi, or CoSi 2 , Moreover, some or all nanowires may be silicied partly of fully. For example, only a tip region of the nanowires may be silicied, e.g. a tip region that is not covered by a dielectric material or dielectric layer. 
         [0022]    The silicide may increase the lifetime of the nanowire and/or may further increase an electric field in the region of the tips of the nanowires. 
         [0023]    In the following, further exemplary embodiments of the ionization chamber will be explained. However, these embodiments also apply for the electrode for an ionization chamber and the method of producing an electrode. 
         [0024]    According to another exemplary embodiment the ionization chamber further comprises a dielectric layer, wherein the dielectric layer is arranged in such a way that at least a portion of the plurality of nanowires is at least partially covered by the dielectric layer. In particular, the dielectric layer may be deposited as a continuous layer between the nanowires on the base member or substrate possibly leading to partially passivated nanowires. For example, each of the plurality of nanowires may comprise a base region attached to or connected to the base member and a tip region which may have a conical shape and the dielectric layer may be formed or deposited in such a way that the base region of at least some of the plurality of nanowires, or even of all of the plurality of nanowires, may be enclosed or covered by the dielectric layer, while the tip region may not be covered by the dielectric layer, i.e. is free from dielectric material. 
         [0025]    According to another exemplary embodiment the ionization chamber further comprises a heating element. 
         [0026]    The provision of a heating element may be suitable to aid decontamination of the ionization chamber, e.g. may aid the decontamination of a cavity of the detector. In particular, the provision of such a heating element may be useful in connection with cases in which an absorption or desorption of gases is involved when manufacturing and/or operating the ionization chamber. 
         [0027]    Summarizing, according to an exemplary aspect of the invention an electrode for an ionization chamber or sensor may be provided which comprises a plurality of nanowires manufactured by processing, e.g. etching, a semiconductor substrate, e.g. a silicon substrate. The nanowires may have a tip region, which has a shape leading to a high electric field in the region about this tip, when a voltage is supplied to the nanowires. When integrated into a sensor, e.g. a gas sensor, the nanowires may be integrated onto a heating element to aid decontamination of the sensor. Thus, an ionization type gas sensor may be provided having a small size, low energy consumption and a high reliability. In particular, an ionization type sensor or ionization chamber may not suffer from difficulties in detecting gases having low adsorption energy or low electro negativity towards the active layer, which difficulties may arise when using gas-adsorptive type sensors. 
         [0028]    An electrode or ionization type sensor using such an electrode according to an exemplary aspect of the invention may be used in a wide range of technical fields. For example, it may be used in the automotive field having a rapid growth in cabin air quality monitoring with large potential growth in emission control. It may also be used in the field of industrial safety, process control and emission monitoring. A further application may be in the medical field, e.g. field of breath and drugs, as in medical diagnosis for example. Another technical application may be environmental monitoring, e.g. monitoring of trace gases, for instance gases, which play an important role in urban pollution, including CO, NO x , CO 2  and H 2 S. 
         [0029]    The exemplary embodiments and aspects defined above and further aspects of the invention are apparent from the example of embodiment to be described hereinafter and are explained with reference to the example of embodiment. It should be noted that features described in this application in connection with one exemplary embodiment or aspect of the invention may be combined with other exemplary embodiments or aspects. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0030]    The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to examples of embodiment but to which the invention is not limited. 
           [0031]      FIGS. 1 to 7  schematically show a procedure for manufacturing an ionization chamber according to an exemplary embodiment. 
           [0032]      FIG. 8  shows a microscopic image of an electrode according to an exemplary embodiment. 
           [0033]      FIG. 9  shows a microscopic image of an ionization chamber according to an exemplary embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0034]    The illustration in the drawing is schematically. In different drawings, similar or identical elements are provided with similar or identical reference signs. 
         [0035]    In the following, referring to  FIGS. 1 to 7  exemplary steps of a process for manufacturing an ionization chamber according to an exemplary embodiment will be explained. 
         [0036]      FIG. 1  shows a schematically substrate  100  comprising a base member  101  having arranged thereon a plurality of nanowires  102 ,  103 , and  104 . Etching a raw substrate e.g. a silicon substrate forms the nanowires. For the etching every known etching process may be used, e.g. etching processes that are used in CMOS processes. 
         [0037]    The nanowires  102 ,  103 , and  104  have comparable sharp tips  105 ,  106 , and  107 , respectively. For illustrative purposes, an angle  108  is indicated in  FIG. 1 , which angle  108  is twice the opening angle of the tips. 
         [0038]      FIG. 2  shows the substrate  100  of  FIG. 1  after a dielectric layer  209  has been formed over the substrate  100 , in particular, on the base member  101  and around parts of the plurality of nanowires. The dielectric layer may be formed by known processes, e.g. by deposition, CVD or the like. 
         [0039]      FIG. 3  shows the substrate  100  of  FIG. 2  after the dielectric layer  209  has been planarized and/or partially removed so that the tip regions of the nanowires are exposed and not embedded by the dielectric layer any more. 
         [0040]      FIG. 4  shows the substrate  100  of  FIG. 3  after a distance-defining layer  410 , e.g. made of SiOC, has been deposited and structured or patterned. In particular, a thickness  411  of the SiOC layer may define a size of a gap between wire tips and a metal plate, e.g. a further electrode, of the ionization chamber. 
         [0041]      FIG. 5  shows the substrate  100  of  FIG. 4  after deposition and planarization of a sacrifice layer  512 . In particular, the sacrifice layer  512  may comprise or may be made of thermally degradable polymer (TDP) and may be formed on the tips of the nanowires. The SiOC layer  410  may form a stopping layer in the planaraization step. 
         [0042]      FIG. 6  shows the substrate  100  of  FIG. 5  after a metal layer  613  has been formed on the planarized sacrifice layer  512  and the distance defining layer  410 . The metal layer  613  may form a further or second electrode of the ionization chamber. 
         [0043]      FIG. 7  shows the substrate  100  of  FIG. 6  after the sacrifice layer  512  has been removed so that a cavity  714  is build forming a chamber of the ionization chamber. In case a TDP layer is used for the sacrifice layer  512 , the TDA layer may be removed by decomposition of the same. By removing the sacrifice layer  512  the tips of the nanowires are exposed again and extend into the formed cavity  714 . 
         [0044]      FIG. 8  shows a microscopic image of an electrode  800  according to an exemplary embodiment. In particular,  FIG. 8  shows an array of a plurality of nanowires  802 ,  803 , and  804  arranged in a regular pattern on a substrate. In  FIG. 8  the pattern is a regular rectangular or square pattern so that the individual nanowires have an equal spacing to the closest neighbors. As can be seen from the legend the spacing is in the order of 1 μm and the height or length of the nanowires is in the range of 1 μm as well. 
         [0045]      FIG. 9  shows a microscopic image of an ionization chamber according to an exemplary embodiment. In particular,  FIG. 9  shows a cross-sectional image of an ionization chamber  900 . The ionization chamber  900  comprises a substrate  901  having a plurality of nanowires  902 ,  903 , and  904  extending therefrom. On the substrate  901  and between the nanowires a dielectric layer  909  is formed in such a way that tips  905 ,  906 , and  907  of the nanowires  902 ,  903 , and  904  are not embedded by the dielectric layer  912  but extend into a cavity  914  of the ionization chamber  900 . Furthermore, a metal plate or second electrode  913  can be seen in  FIG. 9 . When operating the ionization chamber  900  a voltage supply may be coupled to the nanowires generating a high electric field in the region of the free tips which is high enough to breakdown fluids, e.g. gases, passing through the cavity  914   
         [0046]    It should be noted that the term “comprising” does not exclude other elements or features and the “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. Also elements described in association with different embodiments or aspects may be combined. It should also be noted that reference signs in the claims shall not be construed as limiting the scope of the claims.