%0 Journal Article %T Room temperature sol-gel fabrication and functionalization for sensor applications %A George Huyang %A John Canning %A Ingemar Petermann %A David Bishop %A Andrew McDonagh %A Maxwell J. Crossley %J Photonic Sensors %@ 2190-7439 %D 2013 %I %R 10.1007/s13320-012-0075-2 %X The structure and physical properties of a thin titania sol-gel layer prepared on silicon and silica surfaces were examined. Spectroscopic (FTIR, UV-VIS spectroscopy), refractive index (ellipsometry) and microscopic (light microscopy and SEM/EDS) tools were used to examine both chemical uniformity and physical uniformity of the sol-gel glass layers. The conditions for the fabrication of uniform layers were established, and room temperature dopant incorporation was examined. The absorption bands of porphyrin-containing titania sol-gel layers were characterized. By addition of a metal salt to the titania layer, it was possible to metallate the free-base porphyrin within and change the UV-VIS absorbance of the porphyrin, the basis of metal detection using porphyrins. The metalloporphyrins were detected by localized laser ablation inductive coupled mass spectroscopy (LA-ICP-MS), indicating fairly uniform distribution of metals across the titania surface. %K Sol-gel %K titania %K titanium dioxide %K evanescent field %K sensor %K organic compound %K spectroscopy %K microscopy %K surface functionalization %K ablation inductive coupled mass spectroscopy %U http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13320-012-0075-2