电极结构对高分子电阻型湿度传感器性能的影响

本文以聚苯乙烯磺酸钠为湿敏材料,制备了以金叉指电极为基底的高分子电阻型湿度传感器。研究了电极基片材料和叉指电极构型对传感器湿敏响应特性的影响。研究表明,采用多孔结构的基片材料可降低传感器电阻,增强湿敏膜与基片的结合能力从而提高传感器的稳定性;叉指电极构型对传感器的电阻大小有一定影响,增加电极中心线间距离使传感器的稳定性提高。     

Optimization of SAW-type Surface Wave Ultrasonic Sensors for Ultrasonic SHM

Surface acoustic waves (SAW) are particularly suited for effectively monitoring and characterizing a structure’s surfaces (condition of the surface, coating, thin layer, micro-cracks, etc.), and in some cases it is necessary to permanently keep the sensors on the structures to enable continuous monitoring. This article focuses on the optimization of SAW-type interdigital sensors (or IDT sensors for InterDigital Transducer) because they can largely address this issue. Initially, the ability of piezoelectric materials (lead zirconate titanate [PZT] and Niobate de lithium) to generate SAW is studied by modeling. Then a design of an IDT sensor is defined and optimized for the generation of SAW on a substrate. Parameters such as electrode’s periodicity, thickness of piezoelectric plate, and type of contact between the plate and the substrate, are studied. Finally, experimental results are compared with those obtained by modeling.     

A novel method for reducing the dimensionality in a sensor array

Specific types of gas sensors are normally produced by adding different dopants to a common substrate. The advancement of technology has made the fabrication of many dopants and consequently various sensors possible. As a result, in each family of gas sensors, one can find tens of different sensors which are only slightly different in the spectrum of response to various volatile compounds. The wide variety of available gas sensors creates a selection problem for any specific application. Sensor selection/reduction becomes even more important when cost and technology limitations are issues of concern. Accordingly, a methodology by which one can tailor a sensor array to a specific need is highly desirable. In this paper, a novel method is introduced to address this task using data from an electronic nose that uses polymer gas sensors. This method has been delineated based on the geometry of eigenvectors in Karhunen-Loeve expansion. The methodology is general and therefore suitable for many other feature selection problems     

Integrated sensor array for analysis of multicomponent gas mixtures

A new device has been proposed and tested experimentally for the discrimination of gases in “electronic nose” systems. The device consists of an array of surface-acoustic wave (SAW) sensors positioned on a single anisotropic substrate with a common gas-sensitive coating for each sensor. The specificity of the sensors is provided entirely by the elastic anisotropy of the single-crystal substrate: changes in the direction of propagation of the wave through the gas-sensitive film deposited on the anisotropic substrate are accompanied by changes in the partial components of the mechanical displacement of the wave and corresponding contributions to the resultant SAW “response.” Pis’ma Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 24, 40–45 (August 26, 1998)     

Electroplated Indium Bumps as Thermal and Electrical Connections of NTD-Ge Sensors for the Fabrication of Microcalorimeter Arrays

We are developing a method to build arrays of Ge-based microcalorimeters for soft X-rays detection using micro-photolithographic techniques. A key element of the process is the electrical and thermal connection between the germanium sensors and the interconnection electrical tracks, that lay on a substrate acting as mechanical support and thermal sink. The geometry of the sensors, that have a square base truncated pyramid shape, makes feasible a connection through indium soldering. We describe a technique, based on microlithography and electroplating, adopted to grow indium bumps of a few tens of square microns of area and several microns high on top of the contact pads patterned on the substrate. The sensor array is placed over the bumps and a subsequent baking melts the indium, soldering the sensors to the pads.     

Secondary Sensitivity Control of Silver‐Nanowire‐Based Resistive‐Type Strain Sensors by Geometric Modulation of the Elastomer Substrate

A secondary method for modulation of the sensitivity in silver nanowire (AgNW) resistive‐type strain sensors without the need to change the material or coating process in the sensory layer is demonstrated. Instead of using a planar elastomer (polydimethylsiloxane is used in this study) substrate, diverse relief structures are introduced to induce nonuniform and complex strain within the elastic substrate and thereby different distributions of the crack density of the AgNWs upon stretching, which plays an important role in the modulation of the gauge factor (GF). Analysis of the sensory layer and mechanical studies reveal that a lower height ratio and greater number of trenches enhance the sensor sensitivity, for example, reaching a GF of 926 at 9.6% in this study. The demonstration of wrist‐motion sensors using the technology illustrates the feasibility of using relief structures for various types of sensors and sensitivity ranges using an identical sensor layer.     

Graphene-based wearable piezoresistive physical sensors

In the last two decades, wearable piezoresistive physical sensors have attracted tremendous attention due to their broad applications in individual health-monitoring, human–machine interfaces, robotics, sports and therapeutics. Many different nanostructured materials, including nanowires, nanoparticles, nanoribbons, carbon black, carbon nanotubes and graphene, have been explored to construct stretchable piezoresistive sensors on an elastomer substrate. Thanks to its unique two-dimensional geometry, lightweight, flexibility, semi-transparency and outstanding transport and mechanical properties, graphene and its derivatives in particular are considered among the most suitable candidates as wearable sensors. This paper reviews various design strategies established for fabricating flexible, wearable sensors using graphene. The current state-of-the-art developments are discussed of flexible sensors made of 1D fibrous, 2D planar and 3D cellular interconnected graphene architectures for detecting physiological strains, tactile pressures and temperatures. The working mechanisms along with existing applications of flexible sensors are presented. The challenges these sensors are currently facing and potential opportunities for novel applications are revealed to offer new insights into future prospects in this field.     

Microelectronic Gas Resistive Sensor Based on Nanocrystalline Tin Dioxide Films with Terbium and Antimony Additives

Measurement Techniques - The technology of microelectronic resistive gas sensors is considered. Heater and thermistor contacts are formed on an oxidized silicon substrate by sputtering a nichrome...     

Design and Analysis of Laminated Stainless Steel Membrane-Based Microsensors

This paper investigates multiarrayed (6 times 6) sensors based on laminated stainless steel membrane on the stainless steel substrate. For the fabrication of those sensors, micromachining techniques are combined with lamination process techniques. For the lamination between diaphragm and substrate, hot pressing technique is used with epoxy resin. The finite-element method is adopted to investigate the mechanical characteristics of membrane formed in the process and the electromechanical characteristics of sensors are measured. As results, the sensitivity of the device fabricated using these technologies is 9.03 ppm kPa^-1 with a net capacitance change of 0.14 pF over a range 0-178 kPa.     

Measurement of 5-eV atomic oxygen using carbon based films: preliminary results

Carbon-based sensors have been developed to measure the atmospheric neutral atomic oxygen (AO) flux experienced by spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Thin- and thick-film carbon sensor elements were deposited onto an alumina substrate between thick-film gold tracks and silver palladium solder pads. AO flux is deduced by measuring resistance changes as the carbon film erodes and applying a simple theory. A wide range of responses were observed that are dependent on the deposition process and post deposition annealing. The deposition methods used were dc magnetron sputtering, e-beam evaporation, and screen-printing. The sensors tested compare favorably with similar silver-based sensors that have been flown previously on small satellite missions with significant mass/power constraints.     

Facile and rapid fabrication of conductive layers on flexible polymer surfaces and their application to flexible strain sensors

The advantage of building a conductive network on the surface layer of a flexible substrate is that it has less impact on the elastic recovery properties of the substrate, which is particularly important for flexible strain sensors. However, the facile construction of robust conductive layers on the surface of flexible polymers remains a challenge. Herein, a method for constructing robust conductive layers on the surface of thermoplastic polymers was developed by immersing thermoplastic polymers in a solvent/conductive filler dispersion with the assistance of ultrasound. The solubility of the solvent in the flexible polymer and ultrasonic field are key to the preparation of the conductive layer. This method has the advantages of fast preparation and robustness of the conductive layer and can be applied to thermoplastic polymers of different polarities as well as different types of conductive fillers. Based on this method, a flexible strain sensor with a robust carbon black conductive layer on the styrene–butadiene–styrene block copolymer was prepared in as short as 2 s. The advantages of a broad strain detection range (0.1% to 400%) and robust cyclability of the sensors were exhibited. The sensors can be used for human motion monitoring as well as solvent detection.

     

A Flexible Conformal Piezoresistive Sensor Based on Electrospinning for Deformation Monitoring of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials are widely applied in various areas as key structure components. The structural health monitoring of the CFRP components is crucial to prevent catastrophic failure. However, the nonplane surfaces of CFRP components hinder the attaching of monitoring sensors with hard substrates. Therefore, the substrate conditions for sensor preparation are mainly considered in this study. To adapt the proposed sensors to the curved substrate, including nondevelopable surfaces, electrospinning method is used to prepare conformal piezoresistive fiber films, in which polymethyl methacrylate is served as the matrix and carbon nanotubes are utilized as the conductive filler. The piezoresistive fibers covered on CFRP substrates have a gauge factor up to 207.95 and can response to the strain less than 0.05%. Moreover, the sensor also has high durability and the ability to follow the dynamic excitation signals with as high as 50 Hz.     

Post-CMOS wafer level growth of carbon nanotubes for low-cost microsensors--a proof of concept

Here we demonstrate a novel technique to grow carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on addressable localized areas, at wafer level, on a fully processed CMOS substrate. The CNTs were grown using tungsten micro-heaters (local growth technique) at elevated temperature on wafer scale by connecting adjacent micro-heaters through metal tracks in the scribe lane. The electrical and optical characterization show that the CNTs are identical and reproducible. We believe this wafer level integration of CNTs with CMOS circuitry enables the low-cost mass production of CNT sensors, such as chemical sensors.     

Flexible organic transistors and circuits with extreme bending stability

Flexible electronic circuits are an essential prerequisite for the development of rollable displays, conformable sensors, biodegradable electronics and other applications with unconventional form factors. The smallest radius into which a circuit can be bent is typically several millimetres, limited by strain-induced damage to the active circuit elements. Bending-induced damage can be avoided by placing the circuit elements on rigid islands connected by stretchable wires, but the presence of rigid areas within the substrate plane limits the bending radius. Here we demonstrate organic transistors and complementary circuits that continue to operate without degradation while being folded into a radius of 100 μm. This enormous flexibility and bending stability is enabled by a very thin plastic substrate (12.5 μm), an atomically smooth planarization coating and a hybrid encapsulation stack that places the transistors in the neutral strain position. We demonstrate a potential application as a catheter with a sheet of transistors and sensors wrapped around it that enables the spatially resolved measurement of physical or chemical properties inside long, narrow tubes.     

Wafer-scale fabrication of polymer-based microdevices via injection molding and photolithographic micropatterning protocols

Because of their broad applications in biomedical analysis, integrated, polymer-based microdevices incorporating micropatterned metallic and insulating layers are significant in contemporary research. In this study, micropatterns for temperature sensing and microelectrode sets for electroanalysis have been implemented on an injection-molded thin polymer membrane by employing conventional semiconductor processing techniques (i.e., standard photolithographic methods). Cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) is chosen as the polymer substrate because of its high chemical and thermal stability. A COC 5-in. wafer (1-mm thickness) is manufactured using an injection molding method, in which polymer membranes (approximately 130 microm thick and 3 mm x 6 mm in area) are implemented simultaneously in order to reduce local thermal mass around micropatterned heaters and temperature sensors. The highly polished surface (approximately 4 nm within 40 microm x 40 microm area) of the fabricated COC wafer as well as its good resistance to typical process chemicals makes it possible to use the standard photolithographic and etching protocols on the COC wafer. Gold micropatterns with a minimum 5-microm line width are fabricated for making microheaters, temperature sensors, and microelectrodes. An insulating layer of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) is prepared at a COC-endurable low temperature (approximately 120 degrees C) by using atomic layer deposition and micropatterning for the electrode contacts. The fabricated microdevice for heating and temperature sensing shows improved performance of thermal isolation, and microelectrodes display good electrochemical performances for electrochemical sensors. Thus, this novel 5-in. wafer-level microfabrication method is a simple and cost-effective protocol to prepare polymer substrate and demonstrates good potential for application to highly integrated and miniaturized biomedical devices.     

Effect of process parameter changes on the composition of magnetron sputtered and evaporated TiN and AlN films measured by UHV in-situ techniques

TiN and AlN films are deposited on HSS steel substrates in an ultrahigh vacuum magnetron system equipped with in-situ Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and mass spectrometric sensors for plasma diagnostics. The composition of TiN_x coatings is measured by AES as a function of the N₂ pressure, the bias voltage, and the d.c. power. The flux of ionic particles impinging on the substrate surface and their energies are determined by a quadruple mass analyzer mounted behind a hole in the substrate. In addition, the reactivity of neutral nitrogen molecules in a reactive evaporation process is measured by a quartz crystal microbalance.     

Studies of semitransparent optoelectronic position sensors

Semitransparent optoelectronic position sensors (ALMY sensors) have been developed for high-precision multipoint position and angle measurements of collimated laser beams over a large measurement range. The sensors provide a position resolution in the order of a micrometer over sensitive areas of several square centimeters. They consist of a thin film of amorphous silicon deposited on a glass substrate between two transparent layers of crossed strip electrodes. A transmittance of 80%-90% has been achieved for 780-nm laser light produced by diode lasers. We report about recent optimizations of the sensor performance and tests of the long-term stability under laser illumination and of the radiation tolerance at high neutron doses. As expected, the radiation hardness of the amorphous silicon sensors exceeds the one of crystalline silicon devices. The custom-designed readout electronics allow for operation at sufficiently low laser intensities in order to prevent significant degradation of the performance of the amorphous silicon sensors under illumination with laser light.     

Application of ZnO single-crystal wire grown by the thermal evaporation method as a chemical gas sensor for hydrogen sulfide

A zinc oxide single-crystal wire was synthesized for application as a gas-sensing material for hydrogen sulfide, and its gas-sensing properties were investigated in this study. The gas sensor consisted of a ZnO thin film as the buffer layer and a ZnO single-crystal wire. The ZnO thin film was deposited over a patterning silicon substrate with a gold electrode by the CFR method. The ZnO single-crystal wire was synthesized over the ZnO thin film using zinc and activated carbon as the precursor for the thermal evaporation method at 800 degrees C. The electrical properties of the gas sensors that were prepared for the growth of ZnO single-crystal wire varied with the amount of zinc contained in the precursor. The charged current on the gas sensors increased with the increasing amount of zinc in the precursor. It was concluded that the charged current on the gas sensors was related to ZnO single-crystal wire growth on the silicon substrate area between the two electrodes. The charged current on the gas sensor was enhanced when the ZnO single-crystal wire was exposed to a H2S stream. The experimental results obtained in this study confirmed that a ZnO single-crystal wire can be used as a gas sensor for H2S.     

Quantitative surface acoustic wave detection based on colloidal gold nanoparticles and their bioconjugates

The immobilization scheme of monodispersed gold nanoparticles (10-nm diameter) on piezoelectric substrate surfaces using organosilane molecules as cross-linkers has been developed for lithium niobate (LiNbO3) and silicon oxide (SiO2)/gold-covered lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) of Rayleigh and guided shear horizontal- (guided SH) surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors. In this study, comparative measurements of gold nanoparticle adsorption kinetics using high-resolution field-emission scanning electron microscopy and SAW sensors allow the frequency responses of SAW sensors to be quantitatively correlated with surface densities of adsorbed nanoparticles. Using this approach, gold nanoparticles are used as the "nanosized mass standards" to scale the mass loading in a wide dynamical range. Rayleigh-SAW and guided SH-SAW sensors are employed here to monitor the surface mass changes on the device surfaces in gas and liquid phases, respectively. The mass sensitivity ( approximately 20 Hz.cm2/ng) of Rayleigh-SAW device (fundamental oscillation frequency of 113.3 MHz in air) is more than 2 orders of magnitude higher than that of conventional 9-MHz quartz crystal microbalance sensors. Furthermore, in situ (aqueous solutions), real-time measurements of adsorption kinetics for both citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles and DNA-gold nanoparticle conjugates are also demonstrated by guided SH-SAW (fundamental oscillation frequency of 121.3 MHz). By comparing frequency shifts between the adsorption cases of gold nanoparticles and DNA-gold nanoparticle conjugates, the average number of bound oligonucleotides per gold nanoparticle can also be determined. The high mass sensitivity ( approximately 6 Hz.cm2/ng) of guided SH-SAW sensors and successful detection of DNA-gold nanoparticle conjugates paves the way for real-time biosensing in liquids using nanoparticle-enhanced SAW devices.     

Durable microfabricated high-speed humidity sensors

We describe a durable microfabricated humidity sensor made of interdigitated rhodium electrodes on a silicon substrate covered with a sensing film of Nafion perfluorosulfonate ionomer. Rhodium electrodes are much less prone to oxidative degradation compared to previously described gold electrode-based sensors. Even with dc excitation, Rh electrode sensors exhibit excellent long-term response stability. It has been found that low-amplitude (+/-1 V) square wave excitation can prolong the usability of gold electrode-based sensors to at least several months; however, this mode of interrogation cannot provide subsecond response times. Rhodium deposition on the microsensors is much more difficult than that of gold. We were able to attain crack-free Rh deposits by adaptation of pulsed electroplating techniques. At excitation voltages of >2 V dc, the Rh sensors respond to moisture with 10 <--> 90% rise and fall times of 30-50 ms. These are the fastest microfabricated water vapor sensors reported to date. We demonstrate applications as a breath monitor. Such sensors should also be of utility in atmospheric eddy measurements. Short-term repeatability is better than 0.6% RSD (n = 7).