Abstract
Chemical propulsion for micro-spacecraft is preferable to electric propulsion when it is difficult to supply large power and high voltage. One of the key technologies of chemical MEMS propulsion is the catalytic reaction and so far several attempts were carried out in order to improve the micro reactor or combustor. However, they either show poor activity due to film deposition method or need embarrassing procedure for fabrication. This paper treats porous silicon as the catalyst bed of platinum particle and discusses its performance for micro propulsion reactor. LPCVD silicon nitride film on N-type silicon wafer is used as both masks for bulk-etching of microchannels and anodization for porous silicon. By using H_2PtCl_6 solution, platinum particle is successfully deposited on the macroporous silicon surface and active propellant reaction is accomplished.
