Thin Metal Film Sensors

One of the simplest, albeit least discussed, chemiresistors is the mercury vapor sensor. The heart of this device is a thin (7-40 nm) film of gold evaporated on a ceramic or glass substrate. At such thicknesses, the films are continuous, with the resistivity between 300 and l,500Qcm. The sensors are usually connected as a pair in a DC bridge configuration with one sensor acting as the reference. 

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Because of its small size and portabiHty, the hot-wire anemometer is ideally suited to measure gas velocities either continuously or on a troubleshooting basis in systems where excess pressure drop cannot be tolerated. Furnaces, smokestacks, electrostatic precipitators, and air ducts are typical areas of appHcation. Its fast response to velocity or temperature fluctuations in the surrounding gas makes it particularly useful in studying the turbulence characteristics and rapidity of mixing in gas streams. The constant current mode of operation has a wide frequency response and relatively lower noise level, provided a sufficiently small wire can be used. Where a more mgged wire is required, the constant temperature mode is employed because of its insensitivity to sensor heat capacity. In Hquids, hot-film sensors are employed instead of wires. The sensor consists of a thin metallic film mounted on the surface of a thermally and electrically insulated probe. 

Early bolometers used, as thermometers, thermopiles, based on the thermoelectric effect (see Section 9.4) or Golay cells in which the heat absorbed in a thin metal film is transferred to a small volume of gas the resulting pressure increase moves a mirror in an optical amplifier. A historical review of the development of radiation detectors until 1994 can be found in ref. [59,60], The modern history of infrared bolometers starts with the introduction of the carbon resistor, as both bolometer sensor and absorber, by Boyle and Rogers [12], The device had a number of advantages over the Golay cell such as low cost, simplicity and relatively low heat capacity at low temperatures. 

Most microhotplate-based chemical sensors have been realized as multi-chip solutions with separate transducer and electronics chips. One example includes a gas sensor based on a thin metal film [16]. Another example is a hybrid sensor system comprising a tin-oxide-coated microhotplate, an alcohol sensor, a humidity sensor and a corresponding ASIC chip (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) [17]. More recent developments include an interface-circuit chip for metal oxide gas sensors and the conccept for an on-chip driving circuitry architecture of a gas sensor array [18,19]. 

TMM handles thin metallic films as well, as they are used in lO-sensors based on surface-plasmon-polaritons (SPP). SPPs appear at the dielectric-metal interface for TM polarization, exclusively. The sensor principle is to have a waveguide mode and the SPP close to resonance, and screen the resonance vs. angle or vs. wavelength to detect refractive index changes of the cladding. Figure 4 shows the resonance of the absorption vs. the... 

The surface plasmon resonance is a measurement of the changes in the mass concentration that appear on the surface of the sensor and are due to the molecule binding. At specific wavelength and angle of incidence the free electrons in the thin metal film of the sensor surface will absorb the light and the intensity of the reflected light will decrease. 

For thin-film metallization, a thin metallic film is first deposited onto the surface of the substrate. The deposition can be accomplished by thermal evaporation, electronic-beam- or plasma-assisted sputtering, or ion-beam coating techniques, all standard microelectronic processes. A silicon wafer is the most commonly used substrate for thin-film sensor fabrication. Other substrate materials such as glass, quartz, and alumina can also be used. The adhesion of the thin metallic film to the substrate can be enhanced by using a selected metallic film. For example, the formation of gold film on silicon can be enhanced by first depositing a thin layer of chromium onto the substrate. This procedure is also a common practice in microelectronic processing. However, as noted above, this thin chromium layer may unintentionally participate in the electrode reaction. 

SPR is a representative physical phenomenon that is widely utilized for label-free characterization of molecules on thin metal films. The basic principle and operation of SPR has been described in more detail in several review articles [77, 78]. The reports on SPR-based immune sensors have steeply increased for detection of analytes with low molecular weights in recent years. SPR detection in microfluidic systems can provide various advantages. Immunoreactions are completed within a short time due to small sample volumes down to the nanolitre scale. Kim et al. developed a simple and versatile miniaturized SPR immunosensor enabling parallel analyses of multiple analytes [79]. Their SPR sensor was claimed to exhibit good stability and reusability for 40 cycles and more than 35 days. Feltis et al. demonstrated a low-cost handheld SPR-based immunosensor for the toxin Ricin [80]. Springer et al. reported a dispersion-free microfluidic system with a four-channel SPR sensor platform, which considerably improved the response time and sensitivity [81]. The sensor was able to detect short sequences of nucleic acids down to a femtomole level for 4 min. Waswa et al. demonstrated the immunological detection of E. coli 0157 H7 in milk, apple juice, and meat juice extracted from... 

For SPR sensors with angular modulation using coupled surface plasmons on a thin metal film (instead of conventional surface plasmons on a metal-dielectric interface), the instriunental contribution to sensitivity 89r/Srie( can also be calculated from Eqs. 12 and 13. 

Ricco AJ, Martin SJ (1992) Thin metal film characterization and chemical sensors monitoring electronic conductivity, mass loading and mechanical properties with surface acoustic wave devices. Thin Solid Films 206 94-101 Ricco AJ, Martin SJ, Zipperian TE (1985) Surface acoustic wave gas sensor based on film conductivity changes. Sens Actuators 8 319-333... 

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