Future silicon-based devices for biomedical and energy applications are likely to use hybrid organic/inorganic oxide-free junctions, requiring the functionalization of hydrogen-terminated silicon surfaces. Hamers et al. have not only developed methods for organic functionalization, but also provided a fundamental understanding of the UV-induced mechanisms. Here, we describe thermal methods to functionalize H-terminated Si. In addition to standard hydrosilylation with alkene molecules, a novel method has been developed to produce hydroxyl-terminated surface on oxide-free Si(111), thus greatly extending the ability to functionalize surfaces with standard organic monolayers such as phosphonates. We show that, in contrast to hydrophilic oxide surfaces, isolated OH groups on oxide-free Si surfaces are more reactive, leading to facile grafting of high quality phosphonate self-assembled monolayers at room temperature. Applications to sensing and energy are discussed.

Chemical functionalization of hydrogen-terminated silicon surfaces for sensing and energy applications

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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