Effect of temperature on the synthesis of nanoporous carbon from copper/carbon thin films to nanoporous carbon for sensing applications

Over the last few years, a broad panel of carbon materials was proposed for sensing applications. Among these materials, nanoporous carbon (np-C) is of particular interest due to its high specific surface area and low fabrication cost. In this contribution, the synthesis of np-C thin films using an approach combining the growth of copper/carbon nanocomposite thin films by co-sputtering followed by a selective wet etching of copper in nitric acid is studied. By adjusting the deposition conditions (e.g., powers applied to the sputtering targets, deposition temperature) of the nanocomposite thin films, it is shown that the pore size and the structure of the carbon skeleton can be modified. Furthermore, the possibility of integrating such nanoporous materials in field effect transistors for sensing application is also demonstrated.