Cubic Boron Nitride Thin Films as Alternative Platform for Biosensor Applications

Abstract

Abstract The wide band gap material cubic Boron Nitride (c-BN) as functional substrate in biosensor applications has the extraordinary potential to serve as novel biosensor platform. Besides its structural and electronic similarities to the widely used nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) thin 'lms, c-BN exhibits a set of properties which could make it even superior for biosensor applications. As c-BN is a compound synthesized by equal amounts of boron and nitrogen atoms, corresponding thin 'lms reveal strong dipolar moments (due to ionic contributions to the B'N bonds) as well as new binding sites for functionalization. Boron and nitrogen at the sample surface offer new possibilities for binding target molecules and provide new functional groups that might allow direct binding of speci'c molecules as recognition elements for biosensor applications. This work focusses on the preparation of high quality c-BN thin 'lms by means of radio frequency (r.f.) magnetron sputtering under Ultra Hi