Discrete lorentzian structure in low frequency voltage noise spectra of very small area Josephson tunnel junctions

We report the results of low frequency voltage noise measurements on very small area (A = 0.05 to 1 μm²) Nb-Nb2O5-PbBi tunnel junctions as a function of tunnel junction quality and over a wide range of voltage and temperature. We find that the noise spectrum Svin our bandwidth (1Hz to 25.6kHz) is largely composed of a small number (2-3) of distinct Lorentzian components each of which can be characterized by its own voltage and temperature dependent magnitude and mean rate. These lorentzian components provide a powerful means to probe the actual microscopic fluctuation events which lead to 1/f noise in larger devices. The ensemble average spectrum of our devices trends about a 1/f frequency dependence and has a magnitude proportional to (IRj)²and 1/A. We have used our results to establish the intrinsic low frequency energy sensitivity of d.c. SQUIDs made with shunted tunnel junctions.     

Capacitive gas and vapor sensors using nanomaterials

An immense number of sensors has been reported in the literature employing various methods for the detection of different gases and vapors. This article summarizes those sensors whose sensing layer is made up of nanostructured materials and a change in capacitance value of device is the key parameter for detecting a gas or vapor. Now-a-days, capacitive sensors are emerging as they consume less power, operate well at room temperature and show decent response and recovery time. The sensing principles, configurations, mechanisms and performances of capacitive sensors based on different nanostructures are summarized and discussed in the current article. Emerging carbon based nanomaterials like carbon nanotube and graphene are also highlighted for capacitive mode detection of gases and vapors. Finally, an outlook of primary challenges in this field are identified and discussed at the end of the review.     

Gas sensing properties of graphene synthesized by chemical vapor deposition

The gas sensing properties of graphene synthesized by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method are investigated. Synthesis of graphene is carried out on a copper substrate using a methane and hydrogen gas mixture by a CVD process at the atmospheric pressure. The graphene films are transferred to different substrates after wet etching of the copper substrates. The Raman spectra reveal that the graphene films made on SiO₂/Si substrates are of high quality. The reflectance spectra of graphene were measured in UV/Visible region of the spectrum. Theoretically calculated reflectance spectra based on Fresnel's approach indicates that the CVD graphene has a single layer. The gas sensing properties of graphene were tested for different reducing gasses as a function of measurement temperature and gas concentration. It is found that the gas sensing characteristics such as response time, recovery time, and sensitivity depend on the target gas, gas concentration, test temperature, and the ambient gas composition. The cross sensitivity of few combinations of reducing gasses such as, NH₃, CH_4, and H₂ was also investigated.     

Chemiresistive Sensing with Chemically Modified Metal and Alloy Nanoparticles

This review describes the use of chemically modified pure and alloyed metal nanoparticles for chemiresistive sensing applications. Chemically modified metal nanoparticles consist of a pure or alloyed metallic core with some type of chemical coating. Researchers have studied the electronic properties of 1D, 2D, and 3D assemblies of chemically modified metal nanoparticles, and even single individual nanoparticles. The interaction with the analyte alters the conductivity of the sensitive material, providing a signal to measure the analyte concentration. This review focuses on chemiresistive sensing of a wide variety of gas‐ and liquid‐phase analytes with metal nanoparticles coated with organothiols, ions, polymers, surfactants, and biomolecules. Different strategies used to incorporate chemically modified nanoparticles into chemiresistive sensing devices are reviewed, focusing on the different types of metal and alloy compositions, coatings, methods of assembly, and analytes (vapors, gases, liquids, biological materials), along with other important factors.     

Strong suppression of electrical noise in bilayer graphene nanodevices

Low-frequency 1/f noise is ubiquitous and dominates the signal-to-noise performance in nanodevices. Here we investigate the noise characteristics of single-layer and bilayer graphene nanodevices and uncover an unexpected 1/f noise behavior for bilayer devices. Graphene is a single layer of graphite, where carbon atoms form a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb lattice. Despite the similar composition, bilayer graphene (two graphene monolayers stacked in the natural graphite order) is a distinct 2D system with a different band structure and electrical properties. 1,2In graphene monolayers, the 1/f noise is found to follow Hooge's empirical relation with a noise parameter comparable to that of bulk semiconductors. However, this 1/f noise is strongly suppressed in bilayer graphene devices and exhibits an unusual dependence on the carrier density, different from most other materials. The unexpected noise behavior in graphene bilayers is associated with its unique band structure that varies with the charge distribution among the two layers, resulting in an effective screening of potential fluctuations due to external impurity charges. The findings here point to exciting opportunities for graphene bilayers in low-noise applications.     

Graphene/Silicon Heterojunction Schottky Diode for Vapors Sensing Using Impedance Spectroscopy

A graphene(G)/Silicon(Si) heterojunction Schottky diode and a simple method that evaluates its electrical response to different chemical vapors using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) are implemented. To study the impedance response of the device of a given vapor, relative impedance change (RIC) as a function of the frequency is evaluated. The minimum value of RIC for different vapors corresponds to different frequency values (18.7, 12.9 and 10.7 KHz for chloroform, phenol, and methanol vapors respectively). The impedance responses to phenol, beside other gases used as model analytes for different vapor concentrations are studied. The equivalent circuit of the device is obtained and simplified, using data fitting from the extracted values of resistances and capacitances. The resistance corresponding to interphase G/Si is used as a parameter to compare the performance of this device upon different phenol concentrations and a high reproducibility with a 4.4% relative standard deviation is obtained. The efficiency of the device fabrication, its selectivity, reproducibility and easy measurement mode using EIS makes the developed system an interesting alternative for gases detection for environmental monitoring and other industrial applications.     

Hazardous industrial gases identified using a novel polymer/MWNT composite resistance sensor array

Hazardous industrial chemical gases pose a significant threat to the environment and human life. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a reliable sensor for identifying these hazardous gases. In this work, a silicon wafer microelectrode substrate for a resistance sensor was fabricated using the semiconductor manufacturing process. Conductive carbon nanotubes were then mixed with six different polymers with different chemical adsorption properties to produce a composite thin film for the fabrication of a chemical sensor array. This array was then utilized to identify three hazardous gases at different temperatures. Experimental results for six polymers for chemical gases, such as tetrahydrofuran (THF), chloroform (CHCl₃) and methanol (MeOH) at different temperatures, indicate that the variation in sensitivity resistance increased when the sensing temperature increased. The poly(ethylene adipate)/MWNT sensing film had high sensitivity, excellent selectivity, and good reproducibility in detecting all chemical agent vapors. Additionally, this study utilized a bar chart and statistical methods in principal component analysis to identify gases with the polymer/MWNT sensor.     

Boosting sensitivity of organic vapor detection with silicone block polyimide polymers

We demonstrate that silicone block polyimide polymers have an unusually high sensitivity to nonpolar organic vapors, including chlorinated organic solvent vapors. When 0.18-5.34-microm-thick films of silicone block polyimide polymers were deposited onto 10-MHz thickness shear mode (TSM) oscillators, these films were implemented to detect parts-per-billion concentrations of trichloroethylene (TCE) with a detection sensitivity of 0.5-23.5 Hz per 500 ppb of vapor. With a film thickness of 3.4 microm (91.5-kHz frequency shift upon film deposition), optimized for the minimal sensor noise of 0.04 Hz, the calculated detection limit of sensor response (S/N = 3) was 3 ppb of TCE. Detection limits for other chlorinated organic solvent vapors, such as perchloroethylene (PCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (DCE), trans-1,2-DCE, 1,1-DCE, and vinyl chloride (VC) were 0.6, 6, 6, 11, and 13 ppb, respectively. Assuming only the mass-loading response when deposited onto the TSM devices, silicone block polyimide polymers have partition coefficients of over 200 000 to parts-per-billion concentrations of TCE that make them at least 100 times more sensitive than other known polymers for TCE detection. We observed that unlike conventional polyimides, water sensitivity of the new hybrid polyimides is suppressed because of the silicone soft block. Water sensitivity is comparable with the sensor response to nonpolar organic vapors. The high sensitivity and long-term stability of these sensor materials make them attractive for ultrasensitive practical sensors.     

Gas sensitivity comparison of polymer coated SAW and STW resonators operating at the same acoustic wave length

Results from systematic gas sensing experiments on polymer coated surface-transverse-wave (STW) and surface-acoustic-wave (SAW) based two-port resonators on rotated Y-cut quartz, operating at the same acoustic wavelength of 7.22 /spl mu/m, are presented. The acoustic devices are coated with chemosensitive films of different viscoelastic properties and thicknesses, such as solid hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO), semisolid styrene (ST), and soft allyl alcohol (AA). The sensor sensitivities to vapors of different chemical analytes are automatically measured in a sensor head, evaluated, and compared. It is shown that thin HMDSO- and ST-coated STW sensors are up to 3.8 times more sensitive than their SAW counterparts, while SAW devices coated with thick soft AA-films are up to 3.6 times more sensitive than the STW ones. This implies that SAWs are more suitable for operation with soft coatings while STWs perform better with solid and semisolid films. A close-to-carrier phase noise evaluation shows that the vapor flow homogeneity, the analyte concentration, its sorption dynamics, and the sensor oscillator design are the major limiting factors for the sensor noise and its resolution. A well designed ST-coated 700 MHz STW sensor provides a 178 kHz sensor signal at a 630 ppm concentration of tetra-chloroethylene and demonstrates short-term stability of 3/spl times/10/sup -9//s which results in a sensor resolution of about 7 parts per billion (ppb).     

40 t锅炉低频消声器的设计

40 t燃气锅炉的低频噪声在频率63 Hz及12 5Hz尤为突出,是影响环境噪声达标的关键成分。通过对吸声材料声学特性的调研,根据相关纤维材料在上述低频段的声学基本常数[γ]和Z c;分析不同流阻率的多孔材料层背衬刚壁时,相关低频吸声系数的变化。同时按燃气锅炉排烟消声器的流阻要求,进而对阻性消声器的构造开展综合研究,设计一种内置整流体的圆筒状消声器。声学测量表明：5 m长、φ 2.4 m外径、通道直径φ 1.6 m内置整流体0.6 m的圆筒状排烟消声器,在31.5到250 Hz低频段有10～16 dB的降噪量,解决锅炉运转时低频噪声超标问题,使当地环境噪声达标。     

Electronic fluctuations in nanotube circuits and their sensitivity to gases and liquids

The temperature-dependent noise of individual, single-walled carbon nanotubes is measured here in a variety of different gases and liquids. The ambient environment is found to have only a weak relationship with device noise, even in cases where adsorption significantly changes the dc resistance. Correspondingly, a 450 K degassing procedure typically reduces the device noise by only 1 order of magnitude. An important exception to this finding is a pronounced, 100-fold increase in noise observed near gas-liquid phase transitions of the ambient. Wide-range temperature scans clearly identify the condensation of N(2), H(2), and CH(4) onto metallic nanotubes, but not the sublimation of CO(2). The observations suggest that nanotube devices can directly transduce ambient density fluctuations, though without an inherent gas specificity. Even so, the method is a particularly sensitive characterization of nanotube chemical interactions, one which is successful even for the extreme case of inert gases adsorbed on metallic nanotubes.     

氧化石墨烯的制备及其对NH3的敏感特性研究

石墨烯独特的原子结构赋予其电学、热学、力学等方面的优异性能,在诸多领域具有广泛的应用。氧化石墨烯不仅具有石墨烯结构特点,而且具有大量的含氧官能团,增强了对气体的吸附能力,更适合应用于气敏传感器。通过改进的Hummer方法制备了片状多层氧化石墨烯,并对不同浓度的NH3进行敏感特性测试。结果表明氧化石墨烯对NH3具有良好的响应,在(1.5～3.5)×10-4范围内呈线性关系。     

Detection of chemicals in water using a three-dimensional graphene porous structure as liquid-vapor separation filter

In this study,we report the utilization of a three-dimensional (3D) porous graphene structure as liquid-vapor separation filter,which allows the passage of chemical vapors while blocking liquid chemicals and water.The blockage of liquid chemicals and water from semiconducting sensing regions is required to avoid abnormal transistor characteristics.In order to impart omniphobic characteristics,a (heptadecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydrodecyl)trichlorosilane (HDF-S) self-assembled monolayer was coated on the surface of the 3D porous graphene structure.The concentration of chemical agents in water could be consistently detected by observing the shift in the threshold voltage in the oxide nanowire transistor covered by the HDF-S self-assembled 3D graphene structure.The proposed monitoring method is expected to offer means for application in different environments by providing a stable sensing performance.     

Nano Chemical Sensors With Polymer-Coated Carbon Nanotubes

A simple sensor platform consisting of an interdigitated electrode (IDE) pattern has been fabricated for sensing gas and organic vapors. Purified single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in the form of a network laid on the IDE by solution casting serve as the sensor material. The electrical conductivity of the SWNT network changes reproducibly upon exposure to various gases and vapors. Selectivity to specific gases, for example, chlorine and hydrochloric acid vapor, is demonstrated by coating the SWNTs with polymers such as chlorosulfonated polyethylene and hydroxypropyl cellulose.     

Recognition of organic solvents molecules by simultaneous detection using SAW oscillator sensors and optical fiber devices coated by Langmuir-Blodgett cadmium arachidate films

Surface acoustic waves (SAW) 433 and 315 MHz, two-port resonator-based oscillators coated with a Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) thin layer of chemosensitive cadmium arachidate (CdA) provide highly sensitive chemical acoustic sensors for detection and monitoring of organic vapors, at room temperature. LB CdA film-coated silica optical fibers (SOF) have been successfully fabricated and studied for organic solvents molecules sensing applications. The sensing performance of both types of acoustic and optical transducers has been compared for detecting six molecular species. Simultaneous measurements of frequency changes (delta f) and optoelectronic signal changes (deltaV) of the LB CdA film assembled onto SAW sensors and SOF devices have been realized for organic vapors recognition purposes. Six molecular species such as ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, ethylacetate, acetone, and toluene have been identified and recognized by a specific index (deltaf/deltaV), which can be considered a characteristic property of the chemosensitive material. The discrimination of the six molecular species examined also has been obtained by chemical patterns using a couple of specific index (deltaf433/deltaV; deltaf315/deltaV) measured by combining SAW 433 or 315 MHz oscillators and SOF sensing devices. Transient responses, calibration curves, intertransducer relationships, and chemical patterns are presented and discussed.     

Detection of organic chemical vapors with a MWNTs-polymer array chemiresistive sensor

Organic chemical hazardous gases pose a significant threat to human life and the environment. An urgent need exists for the development of reliable chemical sensors that would be able to identify these hazardous gases. In a recent study, conductive carbon nanotubes were mixed with six polymers with various chemical adsorption properties to produce a composite thin film for the fabrication of a chemical sensor array. A silicon wafer was used as a microelectrode substrate for a resistance sensor fabricated using a typical semiconductor manufacturing process. This sensor array was then used to identify hazardous chemical gases at various temperatures. Results for two hazardous gases, ammonia (NH₃) and chloroform (CHCl₃), tested with the six polymers at different temperatures, indicated that the variation in sensitivity/resistance increased when the temperature increased. It was found that the MWNTs-PVP and MWNTs-PMVEMA sensing films had high sensitivity, excellent selectivity, and favorable reproducibility in detecting the two chemical agent vapors. In addition, we derived the solubility parameter (Δδ) to demonstrate the sensitivity of the polymers to ammonia (NH₃). The results showed that smaller solubility parameter corresponds to a stronger interaction between NH₃ gas and polymers, and increased sensitivity. Additionally, we used the statistical methods of principal component analysis to identify the interaction of hazardous gases with the MWNTs-polymer sensor.     

Josephson effect devices and low-frequency field sensing

Three major areas of application of the Josephson effect are recognized; absolute standards, millimetre and sub-millimetre wave sensing, and dc and low-frequency current, voltage, and magnetic field sensing. In the latter area, single junction rf-biased low-inductance loop devices in a number of different forms (junction types and loop geometries) have been developed with sensitivities of the order of 10⁻¹⁵ T (10⁻¹¹ G) or 10⁻¹⁹ V. These sensors are being used in applications as diverse as magnetocardiography and absolute noise thermometry in the millikelvin range. As amplifiers, they are characterized by demonstrated equivalent noise temperatures of less than a few millikelvin, and probably a few microkelvin (theoretical). Highly reliable thin-film loop devices in a number of different forms have been developed in several laboratories, but the more easily-made point-contact devices are probably the most widely used. Many of the characteristics of the devices can be easily interpreted with the aid of a pendulum analogue.     

Generation of local concentration gradients by gas-liquid contacting

We present a generic concept to create local concentration gradients, based on the absorption of gases or vapors in a liquid. A multilayer microfluidic device with crossing gas and liquid channels is fabricated by micromilling and used to generate multiple gas-liquid contacting regions, separated by a hydrophobic membrane. Each crossing can acts as both a microdosing and microstripping region. Furthermore, the liquid and gas flow rate can be controlled independently of each other. The focus of this conceptual article is on the generation of pH gradients, by locally supplying acidic or basic gases/vapors, such as carbon dioxide, hydrochloric acid, and ammonia, visualized by pH-sensitive dyes. Stationary and moving gradients are presented in devices with 500-microm channel width, depths of 200-400 microm, and lengths of multiple centimeters. It is shown that the method allows for multiple consecutive switching gradients in a single microchannel. Absorption measurements in a microcontactor with the model system CO2/water are presented to indicate the dependence of gas absorption rate on channel depth and residence time. Achievable concentration ranges are ultimately limited by the solubility of used components. The reported devices are easy to fabricate, and their application is not limited to pH gradients. Two proof of principles are demonstrated to indicate new opportunities: (i) local crystallization of NaCl using HCl vapor and (ii) consecutive reactions of ammonia with copper(II) ions in solution.     

Nanoparticle metal-oxide films for micro-hotplate-based gas sensor systems

We report on the use of either reactive magnetron sputtering or screen printing to deposit tin and tungsten-oxide gas-sensitive layers onto integrated micromachined arrays. The procedures allow the deposition of the sensing layers before membranes have been etched, which leads to gas microsensors with an excellent fabrication yield. The microstructure of the sensitive films is analyzed by means of SEM and EDX. The response of the different microarrays to ethanol, acetone, and ammonia vapors and their binary mixtures, and toxic gases such as NO/sub 2/ and CO, is studied at different operating temperatures. The response of the different sensors to ambient humidity is also investigated. Finally, it is shown that by using PCA and fuzzy ARTMAP neural networks, it is possible to simultaneously identify and quantify the toxic gases with a 100% success rate. A 95% success rate is obtained in the semi-quantitative analysis of vapors and vapor mixtures. These results prove the viability and usefulness of the techniques introduced to obtain integrated sensor microarrays that are suitable for battery-powered gas/vapor monitors.     

A Stabilized Fiber Laser for High-Resolution Low-Frequency Strain Sensing

We frequency stabilize a fiber laser for use in low-frequency sensing applications. Using a radio frequency locking technique, an Erbium-doped single longitudinal mode fiber laser is stabilized to a Mach–Zehnder interferometer. The low-frequency fiber laser noise was suppressed by more than 1.5 orders of magnitude at frequencies below 300 Hz reaching a minimum of 2 ${rm Hz}/sqrt {rm Hz}$ between 60 and 250 Hz. The corresponding strain sensitivities are 2 ${rm p}epsilon /sqrt {rm Hz}$ at 1 Hz and 15 ${rm f}epsilon /sqrt {rm Hz}$ from 60 to 250 Hz.