Surface acoustic wave detection

Amidoxime-Functionalized Coatings for Surface Acoustic Wave Detection of Simulant Vapors... 

A chemical microsensor can be defined as an extremely small device that detects components in gases or Hquids (52—55). Ideally, such a sensor generates a response which either varies with the nature or concentration of the material or is reversible for repeated cycles of exposure. Of the many types of microsensors that have been described (56), three are the most prominent the chemiresistor, the bulk-wave piezoelectric quartz crystal sensor, and the surface acoustic wave (saw) device (57). 

A new chemical sensor based on surface transverse device has been developed (99) (see Sensors). It resembles a surface acoustic wave sensor with the addition of a metal grating between the tranducer and a different crystal orientation. This sensor operates at 250 mH2 and is ideally suited to measurements of surface-attached mass under fluid immersion. By immohi1i2ing atra2ine to the surface of the sensor device, the detection of atra2ine in the range of 0.06 ppb to 10 ppm was demonstrated. 

By examining the dispersion properties of surface acoustic waves, the layer thickness and mechanical properties of layered solids can be obtained using the SAM. It can be used to analyze the wear damage progress [104], and detect the defects of thermally sprayed coatings [105]. 

Joint Chemical Agent Detector (JCAD) This detector will employ surface acoustic wave technology to detect nerve and blister agents. It will also allow detection of new forms of nerve agents. 

Acoustic wave sensors are also used to detect nerve and blister agents. The surface acoustic wave chemical agent detector (SAW Mini-CAD) is a commercially available, pocket-sized instrument that can monitor for trace levels of toxic vapors of sulfur-based mustard agents (e.g., distilled mustard) and G nerve agents (e.g., tabun, sarin, soman) with a high degree of specificity. Colorimetric tubes are the... 

Rohrbeck, W., Chilla, E., Frohlich, H.-J., and Riedel, J. (1991). Detection of surface acoustic waves by scanning tunneling microscopy. Appl. Phys. A 52, 344—7. [292]... 

Heat is the most common product of biological reaction. Heat measurement can avoid the color and turbidity interferences that are the concerns in photometry. Measurements by a calorimeter are cumbersome, but thermistors are simple to use. However, selectivity and drift need to be overcome in biosensor development. Changes in the density and surface properties of the molecules during biological reactions can be detected by the surface acoustic wave propagation or piezoelectric crystal distortion. Both techniques operate over a wide temperature range. Piezoelectric technique provides fast response and stable output. However, mass loading in liquid is a limitation of this method. 

Mercury binding leads to an increase of mass of the gold layer which can be detected by electro-acoustic transducers based on quartz microbalance (QMB the abbreviation QCM = quartz crystal microbalance is also widely used), surface acoustic waves (SAW)—devices [20] or microcantilevers [21,22], Adsorption of mercury vapour increases resonance frequency of shear vibrations of piezoelectric quartz crystals (Fig. 12.2). This process can be described by Sauerbrey equation [23]. For typical AT-cut quartz, this equation is... 

The simple piezoelectric mass detection systems and the more sensitive surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices operate well in a dry or constant humidity gaseous environment (26,27), but they suffer from loss of signal in aqueous media. In the former case, this is largely a non specific response to water at the surface, and in the latter case it is associated with serious loss of the surface Rayleigh wave to the bulk solution. 

Microsensors have the potential for selective GC detectors and also as remote sensors when combined in arrays often referred to as electronic noses . Promising microsensors include surface acoustic wave (SAW) detectors normally coated with different semi-selective polymeric layers and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) including microcantilever sensors. The hope is that, in the future, hundreds of such microcantilevers, coated with suitable coatings, may be able to achieve sufficient selectivity to provide a cost-effective platform for detecting explosives in the presence of potentially interfering compounds in real environments. This array of... 

The discovery by R. M. White of the University of California at Berkeley that surface acoustic waves could be excited and detected by lithographically patterned interdigital electrodes on the surface of piezoelectric crystals [42] has led to widespread use of SAW devices in a number of signal-processing applications. These include frequency filters, resonators, delay lines, convolvers, and correlators [43,44]. 

The excitation and detection of surface acoustic waves, flexural plate waves, and other plate waves on piezoelectric substrates is most readily accomplished by use of an interdigital transducer (IDT) first reported by White and Voltmer [6]. The comb-like structure of the IDT, illustrated in Figure 6.4, is typically made from a lithographically patterned thin film that has been deposited onto the surface of a piezoelectric substrate or thin film. The metal film used to make the IDT must be thick enough to offer low electrical resistance and thin enough so that it does not present an excessive mechanical load to the AW. Typical IDTs are made... 

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