Crystalline Si(111) surfaces have been alkylated in a two-step chlorination/alkylation process using various organic molecules having similar backbones but differing in their C-C bond closest to the silicon surface (i.e., C-C vs C=C vs C[triple bond]C bonds). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) data show that functionalization of silicon surfaces with propenyl magnesium bromide (CH3-CH=CH-MgBr) organic molecules gives nearly full coverage of the silicon atop sites, as on methyl- and propynyl-terminated silicon surfaces. Propenyl-terminated silicon surface shows less surface oxidation and is more robust against solvent attacks when compared to methyl- and propynyl-terminated silicon surfaces. We also show a secondary functionalization process of propenyl-terminated silicon surface with 4'-[3-Trifluoromethyl-3H-diazirin-3-yl]-benzoic acid N-hydroxysuccinimide ester [TDBA-OSu] cross-linker. The Si-CH=CH-CH3 surfaces thus offer a means of attaching a variety of chemical moieties to a silicon surface through a short linking group, enabling applications in molecular electronics, energy conversion, catalysis, and sensing.

Silicon nanowire field-effect transistors (Si NW FETs) have been used as powerful sensors for chemical and biological species. The detection of polar species has been attributed to variations in the electric field at the conduction channel due to molecular gating with polar molecules. However, the detection of nonpolar analytes with Si NW FETs has not been well understood to date. In this paper, we experimentally study the detection of nonpolar species and model the detection process based on changes in the carrier mobility, voltage threshold, off-current, off-voltage, and subthreshold swing of the Si NW FET. We attribute the detection of the nonpolar species to molecular gating, due to two indirect effects: (i) a change in the dielectric medium close to the Si NW surface and (ii) a change in the charged surface states at the functionality of the Si NW surface. The contribution of these two effects to the overall measured sensing signal is determined and discussed. The results provide a launching pad for real-world sensing applications, such as environmental monitoring, homeland security, food quality control, and medicine.

A stacked plasmonic nanowell-nanopore biosensor strongly suppresses the background fluorescence from the bulk and yields net more than tenfold enhancement of the fluorescence intensity. The device offers extremely high signal-to-background (S/B) ratio for single-molecule detection at ultralow excitation laser intensities, while maintaining extremely high temporal bandwidth for single-DNA sensing.

Si(111) surfaces modified by covalent Si-CH=CH-CH3 functionality, with no intervening oxide, show coverage of all atop Si sites and superior chemical stability in ambient conditions and water, as compared with molecules that form nearly full coverage (e.g., Si-C C-CH3 and Si-CH3 surfaces).