Offer | Applications | Gas Sensors
Gas Sensors
The MultiMEMS MPW process allows designs for various physical gas sensors. In their basic form, the MultiMEMS gas sensors are pressure sensing elements in which the measured pressure level depends on the gas composition.
MASCOT Gas Sensor
The MASCOT gas sensor, illustrated in the figure below, has been developed by SINTEF, Infineon Technologies SensoNor and Hök Instruments.
The MASCOT micromachined sensor monitors the resonance frequency given off by gases. This frequency, measured using a sample volume of gas by an acoustic resonator, depends on the molecular mass of the gas being sampled.
The excitation and detection resistors are implanted in two thin, bossed, circular diaphragms, located inside two cavities etched in the top glass wafer. The cavities, containing the compliant gas, together with a short and narrow resistive channel form the resonator.
 MASCOT gas sensor. © 2006 SINTEF, Infineon Technologies SensoNor and Hök Instruments. |
NetGas Photoacoustic Gas Detector
The NetGas photoacoustic gas detector, designed by SINTEF, measures the pressure variation caused by the selective absorption of IR radiation.
The radiation from the IR emitter is normally absorbed by the target gas enclosed in the reference cavity of the photoacoustic cell. If the target gas is also present in the optical path, absorption will occur outside the photoacoustic cell, thus reducing the amount of heat generated inside the cell itself. The pressure variation is detected by a microphone. A thermopile monitors the remaining power beyond the photoacoustic cell, to compensate for various drift phenomena.
The microphone and the thermopile, illustrated in the figure below, have been developed by SINTEF and Infineon Technologies SensoNor, and manufactured in the MultiMEMS MPW process.
 NetGas photoacoustic gas detector. © 2006 SINTEF and Infineon Technologies SensoNor. |