| Aluminum nitride (AlN) is a piezoelectric material that is being developed for use in a surface acoustic wave sensor for the detection of bacteria in fluid media. An AlN film is deposited on a sapphire or silicon substrate. After conductor deposition, an electronic signal is applied across the device and the signal is modified by changes in the mass immobilized on the sensor surface. Bacteria are immobilized on the surface by antibodies specific to the bacterial species. The problem addressed in this dissertation is how to form a bridge between the inorganic surface and the antibodies. The approach used is to form a new chemical layer on the AlN by using silanes. Functional groups on the silane surface can then be used as anchor points for the antibodies. This approach was carried out in three steps: (1) characterize the AlN surface, (2) explore four surface treatment methods that prepare the AlN surface for silanization and (3) silanize the resulting surface.; AlN films were deposited by a Plasma Source Molecular Beam Epitaxy method. The films were characterized by RHEED, X-ray diffraction, air/water contact angle, atomic force microscopy (AFM), ellipsometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The four surface treatment methods explored were: immersion in boiling water, exposure to laser light, immersion in piranha solution and treatment with plasma. Samples were characterized by contact angle, AFM and XPS. Plasma treatment was preferred because it prepared the surface most effectively, without any loss of sub-surface AlN. Samples of AlN were silanized with two types of silane, along with silicon controls. Samples were characterized by contact angle, AFM and XPS. The effectiveness of silanes on AlN was equal to or somewhat less than that observed on silicon. AlN samples were also co-deposited with two different silanes and then the end group on one of the silanes was chemically modified. This demonstrated that the density of functional groups on the silanized surface can be controlled. |
