Light-addressable suspended-gate gas sensor

A light-addressable potentiometric sensing (LAPS) system has been applied to construct an oxygen sensor using a suspended-gate electrode. The sensor principally consists of an MIS structure, i.e., suspended gate/air gap/LaF₃/SiO₂/Si. The use of the suspended gate makes it possible to realize a contactless sensing system, which provides a flexible structure to integrate multiple sensing elements on a single-chip semiconductor surface. The sensor shows a stable response at room temperature to oxygen partial-pressure changes in the range 0.25-1.0 atm. The fabrication conditions of the LaF₂ film are also discussed.     

Thermodynamic description of the Sn–Ag–Au ternary system

Gibbs energy of hcp_A3 phase in the Ag–Sn binary system has been reassessed using compatible lattice stability. Combined with previous assessments of the Ag–Au and Au–Sn binary systems, the Sn–Ag–Au ternary system has been thermodynamically optimized using the CALPHAD method on the basis of available experimental information. The solution phases including liquid, fcc_A1, hcp_A3 and bct_A5, are modeled as substitutional solutions, while the intermediate compound Ag₃Sn is treated using a 2-sublattice model because Au can be dissolved to a certain degree. The solubility of Ag in the Au–Sn intermediate phases, D0₂₄, Au₅Sn, AuSn, AuSn₂ and AuSn₄, is not taken into account. Thermodynamic properties of liquid alloys, liquidus projection and several vertical and isothermal sections of this ternary system have been calculated, which are in reasonable agreement with the reported experimental data.     

Potentiometric CO2 gas sensor with lithium phosphorous oxynitride electrolyte

Potentiometric cell, Au/LiCoO₂ 5 m/o Co₃O₄/Li_2.88PO_3.73N_0.14/Li₂CO₃/Au, has been fabricated and investigated for monitoring CO₂ gas. A LiCoO₂–Co₃O₄ mixture was used as the solid-state reference electrode instead of a reference gas. The idea is to keep the lithium activity constant on the reference side using thermodynamic equilibrium at a given temperature. The thermodynamic stability of the reference electrode was studied from the phase stability diagram of Li–Co–C–O system. The Gibb’s free energy of formation of LiCoO₂ was estimated at 500°C from the measured value of the cell emf. The sensors showed good reversibility and fast response toward changing CO₂ concentrations from 200 to 3000 ppm. The emf values were found to follow a logarithmic Nernstian behavior in the 400–500°C temperature range. CH₄ gas did not show any interference effect. Humidity and CO gas decreased the emf values of the sensor slightly. NO and NO₂ gases affect this sensor significantly at low temperatures. However, increased operating temperature seems to reduce the interference.     

Room temperature hydrogen response kinetics of nano–micro-integrated doped tin oxide sensor

The nano–micro-integrated sensor has been fabricated by sol–gel depositing the nanocrystalline indium oxide (In₂O₃)-doped tin oxide (SnO₂) thin film on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device having interdigitated electrode configurations with two different electrode spacing (10 μm and 20 μm) and two different number of fingers (8 and 20). The present nano–micro-integrated sensor exhibits high H₂ sensitivity range (S = 3–10⁵) for the H₂ concentration within the range of 100–15,000 ppm at room temperature. It has been demonstrated that, the room temperature response kinetics of the present nano–micro-integrated sensor is a function of finger spacing, H₂ concentration and air-pressure, but independent of number of fingers. Such dependence has been explained on the basis of Le Chatelier's principle applied to the associated H₂ sensing mechanism and the role of above parameters in shifting the dynamic equilibrium of the involved surface reactions under the described test conditions. A new definition of the response time has been proposed, which is not only suitable for the theoretical analysis but also for the practical applications, where a gas-leak detection alarm is required to be triggered.     

Thermodynamic and ab initio investigation of the Al–H–Mg system

A coupled ab initio and thermodynamic study of the Al–H–Mg system has been carried out and a self-consistent thermodynamic database has been obtained. Magnesium alanate Mg(AlH₄)₂, a candidate material for hydrogen storage, has been included into the database. According to Density Functional first principles calculations, the alanate is an insulator and its thermodynamic properties have been obtained at room temperature. This compound has been found metastable at 298.15 K and 1 bar. The alanate has been found thermodynamically stable only at high pressure when the formation of the binary β-MgH₂ phase is neglected. A reassessment of thermodynamic parameters of the liquid phase in the binary Mg–H system has also been carried out in order to be consistent with the Al–H system. The present results can reproduce reasonably well the available experimental data.     

Calculation of ternary fluoride glass compositions

The recent discovery of a new family of non-oxide glasses based on mixtures of ZrF₄ or HfF₄ with other metallic fluorides by M. Poulain and coworkers offers great potential in optical fiber, window and source/detector application. Due to the limited phase diagram data available for the binary, ternary and multicomponent fluoride systems currently employed to synthesize these glasses most of the progress in identifying new compositions has proceeded along empirical lines. In order to remedy this situation, the CALPHAD method for coupling phase diagram and thermochemical data has been applied to develop a data base covering metallic fluorides. The objective is to permit computation of multicomponent phase diagrams which can be used to identify the composition range where the liquid is most stable. The latter offers opportunities for glass formation as demonstrated by predictions of new metallic glasses. Currently the data base covers combinations of 0.2 ZrF₄(ZF), 0.25 LaF ₃(LF) 0.333 BaF₂(BF), 0.333 PbF₂(PF), 0.5 NaF(NF), 0.5RbF(RF), O.5CsF(CF) and 0.5 KF(KF) which have been developed along the lines described earlier for III–V, II–VI and SIALON systems. These results were used to generate computed liquidus contours in LF-ZF-BF and BF-ZF-NF to disclose the range of composition in which the liquid has the greatest stability. These compositions agree well with those in which Poulain and coworkers have discovered glass formation.     

A comparative study of the physical properties of CdS, Bi2S3 and composite CdS–Bi2S3 thin films for photosensor application

Thin films of CdS, Bi₂S₃ and composite CdS–Bi₂S₃ have been deposited using modified chemical bath deposition (M-CBD) technique. The various preparative parameters were optimized to obtain good quality thin films. The as-deposited films of CdS, Bi₂S₃ and composite were annealed in Ar gas at 573 K for 1 h. A comparative study was made for as-deposited and annealed CdS, Bi₂S₃ and composite thin films. Annealing showed no change in crystal structure of these as-deposited films. However, an enhancement in grain size was observed by AFM studies. In addition change in band gap with annealing was seen. A study of spectral response, photosensitivity showed that the films can be used as a photosensor.     

Characterization of transition metal oxide ceramic material for continuous thermocouple and its use as NTC fire wire sensor

The ceramic powder prepared from the mixture of Mn₃O₄ and La₂O₃ have been characterized for NTC behavior and the same have been used as CT²C (continuous thermocouple) sensor in the form of a thin metal cable to detect over-heating. These materials have mega ohm resistance at room temperature and showed exponential drop in resistance with the rise in temperature over a temperature range of 100–400 °C. It has been observed that as the concentration of La₂O₃ increases from 0 to 10% the NTC behavior drops from (400–260 °C) ±10%. The material was pressed into pellets and sintered at 700 °C for 3 h resulting in good bonding strength. Electrical characterization of the material was done by measuring the resistance over a temperature range of 100–400 °C. The material showed reproducible NTC characteristics over the temperature range 400, 370, 340, 280, and 260 °C with decreasing thermistor constant values (B = 9588, 9210, 8500, 5170, 3330 K⁻¹) and activation energy (ΔE = 826, 794, 733, 445, 287 meV), respectively. The decrease in activation energy of the ceramic powder with increase in La₂O₃ concentration makes it possible to fabricate thermal sensors which can be used in different temperature ranges. The microstructure was studied using SEM and evidence of a sintered body with grain size around 1 μm was observed in the material. XRD analysis indicated the single-phase tetragonal structure of the ceramic material. The process of using this ceramic material for fabrication of 10 ft continuous fire wire sensor has been explained.     

Water activities, osmotic and activity coefficients of the system (NH4)2SO4–K2SO4–H2O at the temperature 298.15 K

The mixed aqueous electrolyte system consisting of ammonium and potassium sulfates has been studied using the hygrometric method at the temperature 298.15 K. The water activities are measured at total ionic strength values ranging from 0.60 to 8.25 mol kg⁻¹ for different ionic strength fractions (y) of (NH₄)₂SO₄ with y=0.20, 0.50 and 0.80. The obtained data allow the deduction of osmotic coefficients. The experimental results are compared with the predictions of the Zdanovskii–Stokes–Robinson (ZSR), Kusik and Meissner (KM), Robinson and Stokes (RS), Lietzke and Stoughton (LS II), Reilly–Wood and Robinson (RWR) and Pitzer models. From these measurements, the new Pitzer mixing ionic parameters are determined and used to predict the solute activity coefficients in the mixture.     

Nanoparticle engineering for gas sensor optimisation: improved sol–gel fabricated nanocrystalline SnO2 thick film gas sensor for NO2 detection by calcination, catalytic metal introduction and grinding treatments

The control of the technological steps such as calcination temperature and introduction of catalytic additives are accepted to be key points in the obtaining of improved sol–gel fabricated SnO₂ thick film gas sensors with different sensitivity to NO₂ and CO. In this work, after proving that the undoped material calcined at 1000°C is optimum for NO₂ detection, grinding is added as third technological step for further modification of particle surface characteristics, allowing to reduce cross-sensitivity to CO. The influence of grinding on the base resistance and on the sensor signals to NO₂ and CO is discussed in detail as a function of the structural differences of the sensing material.     

Interfacial hybridization kinetics of oligonucleotides immobilized onto fused silica surfaces

Fused silica optical fibers have been used in an intrinsic mode optical configuration as biosensors for fluorescence based detection of hybridization of nucleic acids. In this work, the kinetics of hybridization of single-stranded oligonucleotides that were covalently immobilized were studied. The probe DNA was dT₂₀, and the target was Fluorescein-labeled non-complementary (dT₂₀) or complementary (dA₂₀) oligonucleotide. Chronofluorimetric monitoring of the adsorption and hybridization processes was used to investigate oligonucleotide films of different density, in different salt concentrations, at temperatures of 25 and 40 °C, with the concentration of the target DNA being 0.005–0.1 μM. Mathematical models based on first- and second-order Langmuir adsorption have been examined to describe both the adsorption and the hybridization processes. Experimental data were processed using the models, and the hybridization kinetics were calculated. Hybridization kinetics on these optical fiber DNA sensors was found to be up to three orders faster than results presented for a number of other experiments using different immobilization chemistries.     

Microstructure, electrical and ethanol-sensing properties of perovskite-type SmFe0.7Co0.3O3

Ultrafine SmFe_0.7Co_0.3O₃ powder, prepared by a sol–gel method, shows a single-phase orthogonal perovskite structure. The influence of annealing temperature upon its crystal cell volume, microstructure, electrical and ethanol-sensing properties was investigated in detail. When the annealing temperature increases from 600 to 950 °C, the unit cell volume of the SmFe_0.7Co_0.3O₃ sample reduces, and its average grain size increases. When the annealing temperature increases from 600 to 850 °C, the optimal working temperature and response to ethanol of the SmFe_0.7Co_0.3O₃ sensor increase, and the response–recovery time shortens. But when the annealing temperature further increases from 850 to 950 °C, there are decreases of the optimal working temperature and sensor response, and the response–recovery time is prolonged. The results indicate that, as for sensor response, its optimal annealing temperature is about 850 °C, and the sensor based on SmFe_0.7Co_0.3O₃ annealed at 850 °C shows the highest response S = 80.8 to 300 ppm ethanol gas, and it has the best response–recovery and selectivity characteristics. When the ethanol concentration is as low as 500 ppm, the curve of its optimal response versus concentration is nearly linear. Meanwhile, the influence mechanisms of annealing temperature upon the conductance, the optimal working temperature and sensor response for SmFe_0.7Co_0.3O₃ were studied.     

Production of singlet oxygen by Ru(dpp(SO3)2)3 incorporated in polyacrylamide PEBBLES

Polyacrylamide (PAA) and amine-functionalized PAA (AFPAA) nanoparticles with disulfonated 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenantroline ruthenium (Ru(dpp(SO₃)₂)₃) have been prepared. The nanoparticles produced have a hydrodynamic radius of 20–25 nm.

The amount of singlet oxygen (¹O₂) produced by Ru(dpp(SO₃)₂)₃ as been measured using anthracene-9,10-dipropionic acid (ADPA). A kinetic model for the disappearance of ADPA, by steady state irradiation of Ru(dpp(SO₃)₂)₃ at 465 nm, has been developed taking also into account a consumption not mediated by ¹O₂. This direct consumption of ADPA is evaluated by irradiating in the presence of NaN₃ and is about 30% of the total. All the experimental results are very well described by the model developed, both for free Ru(dpp(SO₃)₂)₃ and with this dye incorporated in the nanoparticles.

It is found that the polyacrylamide matrix does not quench the ¹O₂ produced, allowing it to reach the external solution of the nanoparticles and react with ADPA. When the matrix possesses amine groups, AFPAA, the amount of ¹O₂ that reacts with ADPA is slightly reduced, 60%, but most of the ¹O₂ produced can still leave the particles and react with external molecules. The particles produced may therefore be used as sources of ¹O₂ in photodynamic therapy (PTD) of cancers. The fact that those nanoparticles do not quench significantly the ¹O₂ makes possible the future development of ¹O₂ sensors based on PAA nanoparticles with the appropriate sensor molecule enclosed.     

NASICON-based solid-electrolyte cell as transducer for enzyme sensors

Enzyme sensors for glucose and uric acid have been developed based on a solid-electrolyte cell using NASICON (Na₃Zr₂Si₂PO₁₂). These potentiometric devices respond reversibly to glucose and uric acid over a concentration range of two orders of magnitude with sensitivities of −54 and −52 mV/decade, respectively. The sensors can be used for a batch-type as well as a flow-through-type measuring system. Primarily the sensors respond to the H₂O₂ that is produced by the enzymatic reactions. The role of the three-phase region, electrolyte solution, sensing electrode metal and NASICON has been investigated. The liquid electrolyte/sensing electrode metal interface is found to work as a potential-determining as well as a rate-determining interface for the enzyme sensor.     

Micromachined silicon bolometers as detectors of soft X-ray, ultraviolet, visible and infrared radiation

This paper presents the development of micromachined thin-film silicon microbolometers which can be used for detection of soft X-ray, UV, visible and infrared radiation. The detector structure is a 1 μm thick polysilicon/Si₃N₄ membrane suspended over a cavity. This structure has been obtained by anisotropic etching of silicon with a previously deposited polysilicon/Si₃N₄ sandwich. Alternatively, porous silicon has been used as the sacrificial layer. Devices have been characterized. Good values of the voltage responsivity and detectivity have been obtained.