IPTeL Tracking ID: IDR-CeN-2017-024
Researchers in IISc have developed a fabrication method for solid-state nanostructured gas sensor which consumes very low power and provides faster response and recovery time with Limit of Detection (LOD) to sub-ppm levels. This sensor can also be exploited for sensing a
variety of gases depending on the metal wire used in fabrication.
Key features
- Nanostructured gas sensor is realized using a simple top-down processing technique.
- It can be easily integrated on top of a completely processed CMOS chip.
- This sensor can also be exploited for sensing a variety of gases by starting with an appropriate metal nanowire.
BACKGROUND
The chemical sensors are particularly used to detect toxic/harmful gases and identify the composition of gaseous mixtures. In particular, miniaturized solid-state sensors such as nanostructured sensors are preferred due to their small-form factor, low cost and good compatibility with the advanced Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) wherein these sensors are integrated with signal processing electronic components. These miniaturized solidstate sensors are provided with micro heaters which consume relatively high power. Therefore, efforts have been made to decrease the power consumption of sensors, by fabricating nanostructured sensors However, the nanostructured sensors produced using one-dimensional structure are difficult to fabricate. Several nanostructured sensors have been developed to minimize the power consumption, improve the response time or extend the Limit of Detection (LOD) to sub-ppm levels. However, there is still an unmet need to develop gas sensors with low power consumption, lowest possible LOD and fast response and recovery time, by using simplified device structure and fabrication process.
TECHNOLOGY
The invention provides a method of fabricating nanostructured sensor using single or multiple nanowires. The sensor is fabricated with nanowires which can detect Hydrogen of about 500 ppb at room temperature with faster response time of about 25 seconds