Silicon nitride glass interface

Some reviews [5-7] have appeared on NCE-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (NCE-ESI-MS) discussing various factors responsible for detection. Recently, Zamfir [8] reviewed sheathless interfacing in NCE-ESI-MS in which the authors discussed several issues related to sheathless interfaces. Feustel et al. [9] attempted to couple mass spectrometry with microfluidic devices in 1994. Other developments in mass spectroscopy have been made by different workers. McGruer and Karger [10] successfully interfaced a microchip with an electrospray mass spectrometer and achieved detection limits lower than 6x 10-8 mole for myoglobin. Ramsey and Ramsey [11] developed electrospray from small channels etched on glass planar substrates and tested its successful application in an ion trap mass spectrometer for tetrabutylammonium iodide as model compound. Desai et al. [12] reported an electrospray microdevice with an integrated particle filter on silicon nitride. 

Nonlinear current-voltage (I-V) characteristics can be obtained with a silicon nitride (SiNx) layer. Figure 3 shows across sectional view of a system which consists of met-al/off-stoichiometric-SiNx/ITO formed on a glass substrate. The transparent electrode (ITO) film is deposited on the lower glass and photo-etched to form a separate pixel electrode. Afterwards, a SiN layer is deposited by RF-plasma CVD (chemical vapor deposition). I-V characteristics for a conventional TFD are not completely polarity-symmetric due to differences between the upper and lower SiN interface barriers. In order to cancel these differences and to obtain symmetric I-V characteristics, the... 

The thermal shock resistance in the above work was improved by increasing the volume fraction of a hard filler such as silicon carbide or nitride, but silica and glass beads had only a moderate beneficial effect and alumina had the opposite effect, whether the particles were spherical or angular. Fractography showed that the interface in alumina-filled epoxies was particularly weak. 

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