Functionalization of a Fully Integrated Electrophotonic Silicon Circuit for Biotin Sensing.

Electrophotonic (EPh) circuits are novel systems where photons and electrons can be controlled simultaneously in the same integrated circuit, attaining the development of innovative sensors for different applications. In this work, we present a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible EPh circuit for biotin sensing, in which a silicon-based light source is monolithically integrated. The device is composed of an integrated light source, a waveguide, and a p-n photodiode, which are all fabricated in the same chip.

Superior Thermoelectric Performance of SiGe Nanowires Epitaxially Integrated into Thermal Micro-Harvesters.

Semiconductor nanowires have demonstrated fascinating properties with applications in a wide range of fields, including energy and information technologies. Particularly, increasing attention has focused on SiGe nanowires for applications in a thermoelectric generation. In this work, a bottom-up vapour-liquid-solid chemical vapour Deposition methodology is employed to integrate heavily boron-doped SiGe nanowires on thermoelectric generators.

Thermal conductivity of individual Si and SiGe epitaxially integrated NWs by scanning thermal microscopy.

Semiconductor nanowires have demonstrated fascinating properties with application in a wide range of fields including energy and information technologies. In particular, increasing attention has been focused on Si and SiGe nanowires for application in thermoelectric generation after recent successful implementation in miniaturized devices. Despite this interest, an appropriate evaluation of thermal conductivity in such nanostructures still poses a great challenge, especially if the characterization of the device-integrated nanowire is desired.

Transitioning from Si to SiGe Nanowires as Thermoelectric Material in Silicon-Based Microgenerators.

The thermoelectric performance of nanostructured low dimensional silicon and silicon-germanium has been functionally compared device-wise. The arrays of nanowires of both materials, grown by a VLS-CVD (Vapor-Liquid-Solid Chemical Vapor Deposition) method, have been monolithically integrated in a silicon micromachined structure in order to exploit the improved thermoelectric properties of nanostructured silicon-based materials. The device architecture helps to translate a vertically occurring temperature gradient into a lateral temperature difference across the nanowires.