Academia.eduAcademia.edu

Outline

Title
Abstract
Introduction
Thermal Gas Sensing Methods
Transient Hot Wire Method (THM)
Er Review
Thermal Transduction Methods
-OMEGA Method
Recent Developments Summary
Conclusions
New Emerging Materials
References
All Topics
Engineering
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Micromachined Thermal Gas Sensors—A Review

Profile image of Julian W GardnerJulian W Gardner

2023, Sensors

https://doi.org/10.3390/S23020681
visibility

…

description

35 pages

link

1 file

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing desire to monitor and control harmful substances arising from industrial processes that impact upon our health and quality of life. This has led to a large market demand for gas sensors, which are commonly based on sensors that rely upon a chemical reaction with the target analyte. In contrast, thermal conductivity detectors are physical sensors that detect gases through a change in their thermal conductivity. Thermal conductivity gas sensors offer several advantages over their chemical (reactive) counterparts that include higher reproducibility, better stability, lower cost, lower power consumption, simpler construction, faster response time, longer lifetime, wide dynamic range, and smaller footprint. It is for these reasons, despite a poor selectivity, that they are gaining renewed interest after recent developments in MEMS-based silicon sensors allowing CMOS integration and smart application within the emerging Internet of Things (IoT). This timely review focuses on the state-of-the-art in thermal conductivity sensors; it contains a general introduction, theory of operation, interface electronics, use in commercial applications, and recent research developments. In addition, both steady-state and transient methods of operation are discussed with their relative advantages and disadvantages presented. Finally, some of recent innovations in thermal conductivity gas sensors are explored.

Related papers

Electro-thermal simulations and modelling of micromachined gas sensor
Yasar Gurbuz

2001 Microelectromechanical Systems Conference (Cat. No. 01EX521)

Reliability of the membrane structure for micromachined-gas sensors is one of the main concerns in MEMS technology. The major source of this problem is the stress on the membrane. In this study, the use of SiO 2 /Si 3 N 4 /SiO 2 stacked layers with optimized dimensions was found to reduce the stress on the membrane, hence improve the reliability. We have also used electro-thermal simulations with finite element analysis (FEA) to model the structural properties of the membrane in order to reduce the stress. The appropriate selection of materials and dimensions yielded maximum active area temperature of 530°°°°C at the center of the membrane with a polysilicon as a heater element, less than 5V supply voltage, 40mW of power consumption, membrane edge temperature of 177 °°°°C and acceptable mechanical stress of 0.097GPa. Upon realizing the structure with the modeled parameters, micromachined-gas sensors could respond to many industry/environment application demands.

View PDFchevron_right
A System for the Dynamic Control and Thermal Characterization of Ultra Low Power Gas Sensors
Fabio Rastrello

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2000

This paper describes a system for the simultaneous dynamic control and thermal characterization of the heating and cooling phases of an ultralow-power (ULP) micromachined sensor, featuring thermal characteristics that are quite similar to those of innovative ULP semiconducting metal-oxide gas sensors. A pulsewidth-modulated (PWM) excitation system has been realized using a microcontroller featuring an ARM7 core to characterize the thermal behavior of a device formed by a Pt microheater and a Pt temperature sensor, over an insulating membrane. Three operating modes, i.e., constant target heater resistance, constant heating power, and cooling phase monitoring, were implemented. Objectives of the research were to analyze the relation between the time period and duty cycle of the PWM signal and the operating temperature of such ULP micromachined systems, to observe the thermal time constants of the device during the heating and cooling phases, and to measure the total thermal conductance. Experiments indicated that an approximately constant heater temperature in the constant target heater resistance regime (i.e., after the initial thermal transient due to the heating algorithm) can only be obtained if the time period of the heating signal is smaller than 50 μs, i.e., much faster than the time constant of the device. Constant power experiments show quantitatively a unique time constant τ for both the heater and the temperature sensor (T-sensor) in the heating phase (with a known applied power) and the cooling phase (with zero power). This time constant decreases during heating in a range of 2.3-2 ms as a function of an increasing temperature rise ΔT between the ambient and the operating temperature. Moreover, we observed that, in the chosen operating temperature range, the thermal conductance is a linear function of ΔT . Finally, repeatability of experimental results was assessed by guaranteeing that the standard deviation of the controlled temperature was within ±5.5 • C in worst-case conditions. Index Terms-Embedded system, gas microsensor, metal-oxide (MOX) sensor, microheater, thermal transient response, ultralow power (ULP).

View PDFchevron_right
ACCURATE EXTRACTION OF THE TEMPERATURE OF THE HEATING ELEMENT IN MICROMACHINED GAS SENSORS
Sergio Nicoletti

The sensitivity and selectivity of micromachined gas sensors strongly depend on the temperature of the heating element; therefore an accurate determination of this temperature is required. In this paper, a simple analytical model of the thermal behavior of a heating element placed onto a thermally insulated dielectric membrane is presented. It is demonstrated that simple resistance vs. power measurements are sufficient for a precise determination of the sensor temperature. These measurements performed "once and for all" at the wafer-level on the statistically relevant number of heaters, allowed us to determine a "universal" temperature vs. power curve.

View PDFchevron_right
Thermal microsensor with a.c. heating for gas-pressure measurements
Borys Lupyna

Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 1997

A method for gas-pressure measurements by means of a micromachined thennal sensor is described. A 0,15 ~m thick silicon nitride membrane with dynamically changed dissipated power serves as a gas heater. Theoretical and experimental results of the sensor sensitivity in a frequency range of modulated dissipated power from 20 Hz to 1 kHz are presented. A resolution of 0.2 torr is estimated at atmospheric pressure. © 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.

View PDFchevron_right
Investigating time-resolved response of micro thermal conductivity sensor under various modes of operation
Joseph Stetter

Sensors and Actuators B-chemical, 2018

 Different modes of operations are investigated for thermal conductivity sensors  Different geometries of thermal conductivity sensors are tested  Sensitivity of TCD sensors increases with power usage  TCD sensors allow the detection of previously hard to detect, noble gases

View PDFchevron_right
MEMS-based microheaters integrated gas sensors
Nidhi Dhull

Integrated Ferroelectrics, 2018

In the present work efforts have been made to develop microheater integrated gas sensors with low power consumption. The design and simulation of a single-cell microheater is carried out using ANSYS. Low power consumption (<35 mW) platinum micro-heater has been fabricated using bulk micromachining technique on silicon dioxide membrane (1.5 lm thin), which provided improved thermal isolation of the active area of 250 Â 250 lm 2. The micro-heater has achieved a maximum temperature of $950 C at an applied dc voltage of 2.5 V. Fabricated mircro-heater has been integrated with SnO 2 based gas sensors for the efficient detection of H 2 and NO 2 gases. The developed sensors were found to yield the maximum sensing response of $184 and $2.1 with low power consumption of 29.18 and 34.53 mW towards the detection of 1 ppm of NO 2 gas and 500 ppm of H 2 gas, respectively.

View PDFchevron_right
Micromachined thermally based CMOS microsensors
siva kumar

Proceedings of The IEEE, 1998

We also address sensors for the characterization of process-dependent thermal properties of CMOS materials, such as thermal conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and heat capacity, whose knowledge is indispensable for thermal sensor design. Last, two complete, packaged microsystems-a thermoelectric air-flow sensor and a thermoelectric infrared intrusion detector-are reported as demonstrators. where he directed a research program in microsensors. As Acting President of the Alberta Microelectronic Centre, he was in charge of establishing a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor metallization fab. From 1986 to 1988, he was a

View PDFchevron_right
Design and simulation of resistive SOI CMOS micro-heaters for high temperature gas sensors
Julian W Gardner

Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2005

This paper describes the design of doped single crystal silicon (SCS) microhotplates for gas sensors. Resistive heaters are formed by an n+/p+ implantation into a Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) wafer with a post-CMOS deep reactive ion etch to remove the silicon substrate. Hence they are fully compatible with CMOS technologies and allows for the integration of associated drive/detection circuitry. 2D electro-thermal models have been constructed and the results of numerical simulations using FEMLAB ® are given. Simulations show these micro-hotplates can operate at temperatures of 500°C with a drive voltage of only 5 V and a power consumption of less than 100 mW.

View PDFchevron_right
Thermal Sensors Fabricated by CMOS and Micromachining
Henry Baltes

2018

Integrated thermal sensors can be made by industrial CMOS IC technology combined with subsequent bulk or surface micromachining for thermal insulation. We review recent work on CMOS-based thermal radiation, AC power, mass flow, and pressure sensors with on-chip signal conditioning circuitry. We discuss diagnostic microstructures for the measurement of process-dependent thermal properties of CMOS materials.

View PDFchevron_right
Micro-beam sensor for detection of thermal conductivity of gases and liquids
Hiroshi Takamatsu

Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 2014

View PDFchevron_right

References (130)

  1. Gas Sensor Market Size & Share Report, 2022-2030. Available online: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/ gas-sensors-market (accessed on 21 October 2022).
  2. MEMS Sensor Market Size, Share|Vendors Analysis & Forecast. 2026. Available online: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/ microelectromechanical-system-sensor-market (accessed on 21 October 2022).
  3. Nazemi, H.; Joseph, A.; Park, J.; Emadi, A. Advanced micro-and nano-gas sensor technology: A review. Sensors 2019, 19, 1285. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  4. Niu, G.; Wang, F. A review of MEMS-based metal oxide semiconductors gas sensor in Mainland China. J. Micromech. Microeng. 2022, 32, 054003. [CrossRef]
  5. Gardner, E.L.; De Luca, A.; Vincent, T.; Jones, R.G.; Gardner, J.W.; Udrea, F. Thermal Conductivity Sensor with Isolating Membrane Holes. In Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE SENSORS, Montreal, QC, Canada, 27-30 October 2019; IEEE: Piscataway, NJ, USA, 2019; pp. 1-4.
  6. Daynes, H.A. Gas Analysis by Measurement of Thermal Conductivity; FOA: Rome, Italy, 1933.
  7. Szulczy ński, B.; Gębicki, J. Currently commercially available chemical sensors employed for detection of volatile organic compounds in outdoor and indoor air. Environments 2017, 4, 21. [CrossRef]
  8. Wakeham, W.A. Measurement of the Transport Properties of Fluids; Experimental Thermodynamics Series; Stanford University: Stanford, CA, USA, 1991.
  9. Assael, M.J.; Antoniadis, K.D.; Metaxa, I.N.; Mylona, S.K.; Assael, J.-A.M.; Wu, J.; Hu, M. A novel portable absolute transient hot-wire instrument for the measurement of the thermal conductivity of solids. Int. J. Thermophys. 2015, 36, 3083-3105. [CrossRef]
  10. Assael, M.J.; Chen, C.-F.; Metaxa, I.; Wakeham, W.A. Thermal conductivity of suspensions of carbon nanotubes in water. Int. J. Thermophys. 2004, 25, 971-985. [CrossRef]
  11. Mylona, S.K.; Hughes, T.J.; Saeed, A.A.; Rowland, D.; Park, J.; Tsuji, T.; Tanaka, Y.; Seiki, Y.; May, E.F. Thermal conductivity data for refrigerant mixtures containing R1234yf and R1234ze (E). J. Chem. Thermodyn. 2019, 133, 135-142. [CrossRef]
  12. Healy, J.J.; De Groot, J.J.; Kestin, J. The theory of the transient hot-wire method for measuring thermal conductivity. Phys. B C 1976, 82, 392-408. [CrossRef]
  13. Corbino, O.M. Measurement of specific heats of metals at high temperatures. Atti Della R. Accad. Naz. Dei Lincei 1912, 21, 181-188.
  14. Birge, N.O.; Nagel, S.R. Wide-frequency specific heat spectrometer. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 1987, 58, 1464-1470. [CrossRef]
  15. Moon, I.K.; Jeong, Y.H.; Kwun, S.I. The 3Ω technique for measuring dynamic specific heat and thermal conductivity of a liquid or solid. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 1996, 67, 29-35. [CrossRef]
  16. Cahill, D.G.; Pohl, R.O. Thermal conductivity of amorphous solids above the plateau. Phys. Rev. B 1987, 35, 4067-4073. [CrossRef]
  17. Cahill, D.G. Thermal conductivity measurement from 30 to 750 K: The 3Ω method. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 1990, 61, 802-808. [CrossRef]
  18. Lee, S.-M.; Cahill, D.G. Heat transport in thin dielectric films. J. Appl. Phys. 1997, 81, 2590-2595. [CrossRef]
  19. Gesele, G.; Linsmeier, J.; Drach, V.; Fricke, J.; Arens-Fischer, R. Temperature-dependent thermal conductivity of porous silicon. J. Phys. Appl. Phys. 1997, 30, 2911-2916. [CrossRef]
  20. Hu, X.J.; Padilla, A.A.; Xu, J.; Fisher, T.S.; Goodson, K.E. 3-omega measurements of vertically oriented carbon nanotubes on silicon. J. Heat Transf. 2006, 128, 1109-1113. [CrossRef]
  21. Makarova, E.S.; Novotelnova, A.V. Estimating the uncertainty of measurements of thermal conductivity of thin films of thermo- electrics with the 3-omega method. J. Phys. Conf. Ser. 2021, 2057, 012108. [CrossRef]
  22. Bogner, M. Thermal Conductivity Measurements of Thin Films Using a Novel 3 Omega Method. Ph.D. Thesis, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK, 2017.
  23. Cahill, D.G.; Ford, W.K.; Goodson, K.E.; Mahan, G.D.; Majumdar, A.; Maris, H.J.; Merlin, R.; Phillpot, S.R. Nanoscale thermal transport. J. Appl. Phys. 2003, 93, 793-818. [CrossRef]
  24. Mingo, N.; Broido, D.A. Length dependence of carbon nanotube thermal conductivity and the "problem of long waves". Nano Lett. 2005, 5, 1221-1225. [CrossRef]
  25. Banerjee, K.; Wu, G.; Igeta, M.; Amerasekera, A.; Majumdar, A.; Hu, C. Investigation of self-heating phenomenon in small geometry vias using scanning joule expansion microscopy. In Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium Proceedings. 37th Annual (Cat. No. 99CH36296), San Diego, CA, USA, 23-25 March 1999; IEEE: Piscataway, NJ, USA, 1999; pp. 297-302.
  26. Cahill, D.G.; Goodson, K.; Majumdar, A. Thermometry and thermal transport in micro/nanoscale solid-state devices and structures. J. Heat Transf. 2002, 124, 223-241. [CrossRef]
  27. Kommandur, S.; Mahdavifar, A.; Hesketh, P.J.; Yee, S. A microbridge heater for low power gas sensing based on the 3-Omega technique. Sens. Actuators Phys. 2015, 233, 231-238. [CrossRef]
  28. Thundat, T.; Wachter, E.A.; Sharp, S.L.; Warmack, R.J. Detection of mercury vapor using resonating microcantilevers. Appl. Phys. Lett. 1995, 66, 1695-1697. [CrossRef]
  29. Lai, Y.-T.; Kuo, J.-C.; Yang, Y.-J. A novel gas sensor using polymer-dispersed liquid crystal doped with carbon nanotubes. Sens. Actuators Phys. 2014, 215, 83-88. [CrossRef]
  30. Jaber, N.; Ilyas, S.; Shekhah, O.; Eddaoudi, M.; Younis, M.I. Multimode excitation of a metal organics frameworks coated microbeam for smart gas sensing and actuation. Sens. Actuators Phys. 2018, 283, 254-262. [CrossRef]
  31. Waggoner, P.S.; Craighead, H.G. Micro-and nanomechanical sensors for environmental, chemical, and biological detection. Lab. Chip 2007, 7, 1238-1255. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  32. Hajjaj, A.Z.; Jaber, N.; Alcheikh, N.; Younis, M.I. A sensitive resonant gas sensor based on multimode excitation of a buckled beam. In Proceedings of the 2019 20th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems & Eurosensors XXXIII (TRANSDUCERS & EUROSENSORS XXXIII), Berlin, Germany, 23-27 June 2019; IEEE: Piscataway, NJ, USA, 2019; pp. 769-772.
  33. Harris, H. Concerning a thermometer with solid-state diodes. Sci. Am. 1961, 204, 192.
  34. McNamara, A.G. Semiconductor diodes and transistors as electrical thermometers. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 1962, 33, 330-333. [CrossRef]
  35. Mansoor, M.; Haneef, I.; Akhtar, S.; De Luca, A.; Udrea, F. Silicon diode temperature sensors-A review of applications. Sens. Actuators Phys. 2015, 232, 63-74. [CrossRef]
  36. Meijer, G.C. Thermal sensors based on transistors. Sens. Actuators 1986, 10, 103-125. [CrossRef]
  37. Kliche, K.; Billat, S.; Hedrich, F.; Ziegler, C.; Zengerle, R. Sensor for gas analysis based on thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity and thermal diffusivity. In Proceedings of the 2011 IEEE 24th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, Cancun, Mexico, 23-27 January 2011; IEEE: Piscataway, NJ, USA, 2011; pp. 1189-1192.
  38. De Graaf, G.; Abarca, A.; Ghaderi, M.; Wolffenbuttel, R.F. A MEMS flow compensated thermal conductivity detector for gas sensing. Procedia Eng. 2015, 120, 1265-1268. [CrossRef]
  39. Rastrello, F.; Placidi, P.; Scorzoni, A.; Cozzani, E.; Messina, M.; Elmi, I.; Zampolli, S.; Cardinali, G.C. Thermal Conductivity Detector for Gas Chromatography: Very Wide Gain Range Acquisition System and Experimental Measurements. IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 2013, 62, 974-981. [CrossRef]
  40. Kaanta, B.C.; Chen, H.; Lambertus, G.; Steinecker, W.H.; Zhdaneev, O.; Zhang, X. High Sensitivity Micro-Thermal Conductivity Detector for Gas Chromatography. In Proceedings of the 2009 IEEE 22nd International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, Sorrento, Italy, 25-29 January 2009; pp. 264-267.
  41. Kaanta, B.C.; Chen, H.; Zhang, X. A monolithically fabricated gas chromatography separation column with an integrated high sensitivity thermal conductivity detector. J. Micromech. Microeng. 2010, 20, 055016. [CrossRef]
  42. van der Bent, J.F.; Puik, E.; Tong, H.D.; van Rijn, C.J.M. Temperature balanced hydrogen sensor system with coupled palladium nanowires. Sens. Actuators Phys. 2015, 226, 98-106. [CrossRef]
  43. Zhang, H.; Shen, B.; Hu, W.; Liu, X. Research on a Fast-Response Thermal Conductivity Sensor Based on Carbon Nanotube Modification. Sensors 2018, 18, 2191. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  44. Sun, X.; Ding, X.; Chen, Y.; He, G.; Bao, L. Temperature drift and compensation techniques for the thermal conductivity Gas sensor. In Proceedings of the Ifost, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 28 June-1 July 2013; Volume 2, pp. 32-35.
  45. Gardner, E.L.W.; De Luca, A.; Udrea, F. Differential Thermal Conductivity CO2 Sensor. In Proceedings of the 2021 IEEE 34th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), Gainesville, FL, USA, 25-29 January 2021; pp. 791-794.
  46. Tsilingiris, P.T. Thermophysical and transport properties of humid air at temperature range between 0 and 100 • C. Energy Convers. Manag. 2008, 49, 1098-1110. [CrossRef]
  47. Simon, I.; Arndt, M. Thermal and gas-sensing properties of a micromachined thermal conductivity sensor for the detection of hydrogen in automotive applications. Sens. Actuators Phys. 2002, 97, 104-108. [CrossRef]
  48. Arndt, M. Micromachined thermal conductivity hydrogen detector for automotive applications. In Proceedings of the 2002 IEEE SENSORS, Orlando, FL, USA, 12-14 June 2002; Volume 2, pp. 1571-1575.
  49. Wu, H.; Grabarnik, S.; Emadi, A.; de Graaf, G.; Wolffenbuttel, R.F. Characterization of thermal cross-talk in a MEMS-based thermopile detector array. J. Micromech. Microeng. 2009, 19, 074022. [CrossRef]
  50. Kuo, J.T.; Yu, L.; Meng, E. Micromachined thermal flow sensors-A review. Micromachines 2012, 3, 550-573. [CrossRef]
  51. de Graaf, G.; Prouza, A.A.; Ghaderi, M.; Wolffenbuttel, R.F. Micro thermal conductivity detector with flow compensation using a dual MEMS device. Sens. Actuators Phys. 2016, 249, 186-198. [CrossRef]
  52. Hepp, C.J.; Krogmann, F.T.; Urban, G.A. Flow rate independent sensing of thermal conductivity in a gas stream by a thermal MEMS-sensor-Simulation and experiments. Sens. Actuators Phys. 2017, 253, 136-145. [CrossRef]
  53. Romero, D.F.R.; Kogan, K.; Cubukcu, A.S.; Urban, G.A. Simultaneous flow and thermal conductivity measurement of gases utilizing a calorimetric flow sensor. Sens. Actuators Phys. 2013, 203, 225-233. [CrossRef]
  54. Wang, J.; Liu, Y.; Zhou, H.; Wang, Y.; Wu, M.; Huang, G.; Li, T. Thermal Conductivity Gas Sensor with Enhanced Flow-Rate Independence. Sensors 2022, 22, 1308. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  55. Cheung, H.; Bromley, L.A.; Wilke, C.R. Thermal conductivity of gas mixtures. AIChE J. 1962, 8, 221-228. [CrossRef]
  56. Brokaw, R.S. Approximate formulas for the viscosity and thermal conductivity of gas mixtures. J. Chem. Phys. 1958, 29, 391-397.
  57. Lindsay, A.L.; Bromley, L.A. Thermal conductivity of gas mixtures. Ind. Eng. Chem. 1950, 42, 1508-1511. [CrossRef]
  58. Mason, E.A.; Saxena, S.C. Approximate formula for the thermal conductivity of gas mixtures. Phys. Fluids 1958, 1, 361-369.
  59. Monchick, L.; Pereira, A.N.G.; Mason, E.A. Heat conductivity of polyatomic and polar gases and gas mixtures. J. Chem. Phys. 1965, 42, 3241-3256. [CrossRef]
  60. Zhukov, V.P.; Pätz, M. On thermal conductivity of gas mixtures containing hydrogen. Heat Mass Transf. 2017, 53, 2219-2222.
  61. Azmi, W.H.; Sharma, K.V.; Mamat, R.; Najafi, G.; Mohamad, M.S. The enhancement of effective thermal conductivity and effective dynamic viscosity of nanofluids-A review. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 2016, 53, 1046-1058. [CrossRef]
  62. Terry, S.C.; Jerman, J.H.; Angell, J.B. A gas chromatographic air analyzer fabricated on a silicon wafer. IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 1979, 26, 1880-1886. [CrossRef]
  63. Mahdavifar, A.; Aguilar, R.; Peng, Z.; Hesketh, P.J.; Findlay, M.; Stetter, J.R.; Hunter, G.W. Simulation and fabrication of an ultra-low power miniature microbridge thermal conductivity gas sensor. J. Electrochem. Soc. 2014, 161, B55-B61. [CrossRef]
  64. Mahdavifar, A.; Navaei, M.; Hesketh, P.J.; Findlay, M.; Stetter, J.R.; Hunter, G.W. Transient thermal response of micro-thermal conductivity detector (µTCD) for the identification of gas mixtures: An ultra-fast and low power method. Microsyst. Nanoeng. 2015, 1, 15025. [CrossRef]
  65. Narayanan, S.; Agah, M. A high-performance TCD monolithically integrated with a gas separation column. In Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE SENSORS, Taipei, Taiwan, 28-31 October 2012; pp. 1-4.
  66. Narayanan, S.; Alfeeli, B.; Agah, M. Two-Port Static Coated Micro Gas Chromatography Column With an Embedded Thermal Conductivity Detector. IEEE Sens. J. 2012, 12, 1893-1900. [CrossRef]
  67. Legendre, O.; Ruellan, J.; Gely, M.; Arcamone, J.; Duraffourg, L.; Ricoul, F.; Alava, T.; Fain, B. CMOS compatible nanoscale thermal conductivity detector for gas sensing applications. Sens. Actuators Phys. 2017, 261, 9-13. [CrossRef]
  68. Cruz, D.; Chang, J.P.; Showalter, S.K.; Gelbard, F.; Manginell, R.P.; Blain, M.G. Microfabricated thermal conductivity detector for the micro-ChemLab TM . Sens. Actuators B Chem. 2007, 121, 414-422. [CrossRef]
  69. Sun, J.; Cui, D.; Chen, X.; Zhang, L.; Cai, H.; Li, H. Design, modeling, microfabrication and characterization of novel micro thermal conductivity detector. Sens. Actuators B Chem. 2011, 160, 936-941. [CrossRef]
  70. Garg, A.; Akbar, M.; Vejerano, E.; Narayanan, S.; Nazhandali, L.; Marr, L.C.; Agah, M. Zebra GC: A mini gas chromatography system for trace-level determination of hazardous air pollutants. Sens. Actuators B Chem. 2015, 212, 145-154. [CrossRef]
  71. Qu, H.; Duan, X. Recent advances in micro detectors for micro gas chromatography. Sci. China Mater. 2019, 62, 611-623. [CrossRef]
  72. Palmisano, V.; Boon-Brett, L.; Bonato, C.; Harskamp, F.; Buttner, W.J.; Post, M.B.; Burgess, R.; Rivkin, C. Evaluation of selectivity of commercial hydrogen sensors. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2014, 39, 20491-20496. [CrossRef]
  73. Buttner, W.J.; Post, M.B.; Burgess, R.; Rivkin, C. An overview of hydrogen safety sensors and requirements. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2011, 36, 2462-2470. [CrossRef]
  74. Harkinezhad, B.; Soleimani, A.; Hossein-Babaei, F. Hydrogen level detection via thermal conductivity measurement using temporal temperature monitoring. In Proceedings of the 2019 27th Iranian Conference on Electrical Engineering (ICEE), Yazd, Iran, 30 April-2 May 2019; IEEE: Piscataway, NJ, USA, 2019; pp. 408-411.
  75. Steckelmacher, W.; Tinsley, D.M. Thermal conductivity leak detectors suitable for testing equipment by overpressure or vacuum. Vacuum 1962, 12, 153-159. [CrossRef]
  76. Boon-Brett, L.; Bousek, J.; Moretto, P. Reliability of commercially available hydrogen sensors for detection of hydrogen at critical concentrations: Part II-selected sensor test results. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2009, 34, 562-571. [CrossRef]
  77. Berndt, D.; Muggli, J.; Wittwer, F.; Langer, C.; Heinrich, S.; Knittel, T.; Schreiner, R. MEMS-based thermal conductivity sensor for hydrogen gas detection in automotive applications. Sens. Actuators Phys. 2020, 305, 111670. [CrossRef]
  78. Pollak-Diener, G.; Obermeier, E. Heat-conduction microsensor based on silicon technology for the analysis of two-and three- component gas mixtures. Sens. Actuators B Chem. 1993, 13, 345-347. [CrossRef]
  79. Ma, H.; Qin, S.; Wang, L.; Wang, G.; Zhao, X.; Ding, E. The study on methane sensing with high-temperature low-power CMOS compatible silicon microheater. Sens. Actuators B Chem. 2017, 244, 17-23. [CrossRef]
  80. Puente, D.; Gracia, F.J.; Ayerdi, I. Thermal conductivity microsensor for determining the Methane Number of natural gas. Sens. Actuators B Chem. 2005, 110, 181-189. [CrossRef]
  81. Dent, A.G.; Sutedja, T.G.; Zimmerman, P.V. Exhaled breath analysis for lung cancer. J. Thorac. Dis. 2013, 5, S540-S550.
  82. Ohira, S.-I.; Toda, K. Micro gas analyzers for environmental and medical applications. Anal. Chim. Acta 2008, 619, 143-156.
  83. Righettoni, M.; Tricoli, A.; Pratsinis, S.E. Si: WO3 sensors for highly selective detection of acetone for easy diagnosis of diabetes by breath analysis. Anal. Chem. 2010, 82, 3581-3587. [CrossRef]
  84. Liu, S.-J.; Chen, Z.-Y.; Chang, Y.-Z.; Wang, S.-L.; Li, Q.; Fan, Y.-Q. Xenon Responding Analyzed by Using Micro-Thermal Conductivity Detector for Gas Chromatography. Fenxi Huaxue 2012, 40, 1130-1134. [CrossRef]
  85. Luginbühl, M.; Lauber, R.; Feigenwinter, P.; Zbinden, A.M. Monitoring xenon in the breathing circuit with a thermal conductivity sensor. J. Clin. Monit. Comput. 2002, 17, 23-30. [CrossRef]
  86. Houston, T.E. Methods for the determination of water in coatings. Met. Finish. 1997, 95, 36-38. [CrossRef]
  87. Nussbaum, R.; Lischke, D.; Paxmann, H.; Wolf, B. Quantitative GC determination of water in small samples. Chromatographia 2000, 51, 119-121. [CrossRef]
  88. O'Keefe, W.K.; Ng, F.T.T.; Rempel, G.L. Validation of a gas chromatography/thermal conductivity detection method for the determination of the water content of oxygenated solvents. J. Chromatogr. A 2008, 1182, 113-118. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  89. Weatherly, C.A.; Woods, R.M.; Armstrong, D.W. Rapid analysis of ethanol and water in commercial products using ionic liquid capillary gas chromatography with thermal conductivity detection and/or barrier discharge ionization detection. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2014, 62, 1832-1838. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  90. Wilfert, S.; Edelmann, C. Miniaturized vacuum gauges. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. Vac. Surf. Films 2004, 22, 309-320. [CrossRef]
  91. Kerkeni, C.; BenJemaa, F.; Kooli, S.; Farhat, A.; Maalej, M. Performance evaluation of a thermodynamic solar power plant: Fifteen years of operation history. Renew. Energy 2002, 25, 473-487. [CrossRef]
  92. Van Herwaarden, A.W.; Sarro, P.M.; Meijer, H.C. Integrated vacuum sensor. Sens. Actuators 1985, 8, 187-196. [CrossRef]
  93. Paul, O.; Brand, O.; Lenggenhager, R.; Baltes, H. Vacuum gauging with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor microsensors. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. Vac. Surf. Films 1995, 13, 503-508. [CrossRef]
  94. Paul, O.; Haberli, A.; Malcovati, P.; Baltes, H. Novel integrated thermal pressure gauge and read-out circuit by CMOS IC technology. In Proceedings of the 1994 IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA, 11-14 December 1994; IEEE: Piscataway, NJ, USA, 1994; pp. 131-134.
  95. Mastrangelo, C.H.; Muller, R.S. Microfabricated thermal absolute-pressure sensor with on-chip digital front-end processor. IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 1991, 26, 1998-2007. [CrossRef]
  96. Wang, J.; Tang, Z.; Li, J. Tungsten-microhotplate-array-based pirani vacuum sensor system with on-chip digital front-end processor. J. Microelectromech. Syst. 2011, 20, 834-841. [CrossRef]
  97. Piotto, M.; Del Cesta, S.; Bruschi, P. A CMOS compatible micro-Pirani vacuum sensor based on mutual heat transfer with 5-decade operating range and 0.3 Pa detection limit. Sens. Actuators Phys. 2017, 263, 718-726. [CrossRef]
  98. Stark, B.H.; Najafi, K. A low-temperature thin-film electroplated metal vacuum package. J. Microelectromech. Syst. 2004, 13, 147-157. [CrossRef]
  99. Topalli, E.S.; Topalli, K.; Alper, S.E.; Serin, T.; Akin, T. Pirani vacuum gauges using silicon-on-glass and dissolved-wafer processes for the characterization of MEMS vacuum packaging. IEEE Sens. J. 2009, 9, 263-270. [CrossRef]
  100. Feng, F.; Tian, B.; Hou, L.; Yu, Z.; Zhou, H.; Ge, X.; Li, X. High sensitive micro thermal conductivity detector with sandwich structure. In Proceedings of the 2017 19th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems (TRANSDUCERS), Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 18-22 June 2017; 2017; pp. 1433-1436.
  101. Wang, J.Q.; Tang, Z.A. A CMOS-compatible temperature sensor based on the gaseous thermal conduction dependent on temperature. Sens. Actuators Phys. 2012, 176, 72-77. [CrossRef]
  102. Sarfraz, S.; Kumar, R.V.; Udrea, F. A high temperature and low power SOI CMOS MEMS based thermal conductivity gas sensor. In Proceedings of the CAS 2013 (International Semiconductor Conference), Sinaia, Romania, 14-16 October 2013; Volume 1, pp. 51-54.
  103. Struk, D.; Shirke, A.; Mahdavifar, A.; Hesketh, P.J.; Stetter, J.R. Investigating time-resolved response of micro thermal conductivity sensor under various modes of operation. Sens. Actuators B Chem. 2018, 254, 771-777. [CrossRef]
  104. Kawano, T.; Chiamori, H.C.; Suter, M.; Zhou, Q.; Sosnowchik, B.D.; Lin, L. An Electrothermal Carbon Nanotube Gas Sensor. Nano Lett. 2007, 7, 3686-3690. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  105. Zou, Z.; Zhang, H.; Sun, Y.; Gao, Y.; Dou, L. A thermal conductivity sensor based on mixed carbon material modification for hydrogen detection. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 2022, 93, 035001. [CrossRef]
  106. Cho, W.; Kim, T.; Shin, H. Thermal conductivity detector (TCD)-type gas sensor based on a batch-fabricated 1D nanoheater for ultra-low power consumption. Sens. Actuators B Chem. 2022, 371, 132541. [CrossRef]
  107. Sosna, C.; Buchner, R.; Lang, W. A temperature compensation circuit for thermal flow sensors operated in constant-temperature- difference mode. IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 2010, 59, 1715-1721. [CrossRef]
  108. Ferreira, R.P.C.; Freire, R.C.S.; Deep, C.S.; de Rocha Neto, J.S.; Oliveira, A. Hot-wire anemometer with temperature compensation using only one sensor. IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 2001, 50, 954-958. [CrossRef]
  109. Kielbasa, J.; Ligeza, P. Temperature-compensated single hot-wire anemometer. In Tagung Turbulente Ein-und Mehrphasenstrmungen; Institut für Mechanik: Darmstadt, Germany, 1991; pp. 75-86.
  110. Xu, W.; Gao, B.; Ma, S.; Zhang, A.; Chiu, Y.; Lee, Y.-K. Low-cost temperature-compensated thermoresistive micro calorimetric flow sensor by using 0.35 µm CMOS MEMS technology. In Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE 29th International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), Shanghai, China, 24-28 January 2016; IEEE: Piscataway, NJ, USA, 2016; pp. 189-192.
  111. Cai, Z.; van Veldhoven, R.H.M.; Falepin, A.; Suy, H.; Sterckx, E.; Bitterlich, C.; Makinwa, K.A.A.; Pertijs, M.A.P. A Ratiometric Readout Circuit for Thermal-Conductivity-Based Resistive CO2 Sensors. IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 2016, 51, 2463-2474. [CrossRef]
  112. Ali, H.A.; Pirro, M.; Poulichet, P.; CESAR, W.; Marty, F.; AZZOUZ, I.; Gnambodoe-Capochichi, M.; Nefzaoui, E.; Bourouina, T. Thermal aspects of a micro thermal conductivity detector for micro gas chromatography. In Proceedings of the 2019 Symposium on Design, Test, Integration & Packaging of MEMS and MOEMS (DTIP), Paris, France, 12-15 May 2019; IEEE: Paris, France, 2019; pp. 1-6.
  113. Udina, S.; Carmona, M.; Carles, G.; Santander, J.; Fonseca, L.; Marco, S. A micromachined thermoelectric sensor for natural gas analysis: Thermal model and experimental results. Sens. Actuators B Chem. 2008, 134, 551-558. [CrossRef]
  114. Gardner, E.L.; Vincent, T.A.; De Luca, A.; Udrea, F. Simultaneous Flow and Thermal Conductivity Sensing on a Single Chip Using Artificial Neural Networks. IEEE Sens. J. 2020, 20, 4985-4991. [CrossRef]
  115. Randjelović, D.V. Analytical Modelling Approach in Study of the Transient Response of Thermopile-Based MEMS Sensors Applied for Simultaneous Detection of Pressure and Gas Composition. In Proceedings of the 2018 International Semiconductor Conference (CAS), Sinaia, Romania, 10-12 October 2018; pp. 27-34.
  116. Cai, Z.; van Veldhoven, R.; Suy, H.; de Graaf, G.; Makinwa, K.A.A.; Pertijs, M.A.P. A Phase-Domain Readout Circuit for a CMOS-Compatible Hot-Wire CO2 Sensor. IEEE J. Solid-State Circuits 2018, 53, 3303-3313. [CrossRef]
  117. Sun, J.; Chen, T.; Tan, T.; Wang, D.; Zhu, X.; Zhang, X.; Peng, H.; Luan, Z. Fabrication and Characterization of a Novel Micro-Thermal Conductivity Detector for Monitoring Small-molecule Gases. IEEE Sens. J. 2020, 20, 11115-11121. [CrossRef]
  118. Harumoto, T.; Fujiki, H.; Shi, J.; Nakamura, Y. Extremely simple structure hydrogen gas sensor based on single metallic thin-wire under sweep heating. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2022, 47, 34291-34298. [CrossRef]
  119. Lotfi, A.; Navaei, M.; Hesketh, P.J. A Platinum Cantilever-Based TCD for 3-Omega Sensing of Gas Mixtures. ECS Trans. 2018, 86, 79-86. [CrossRef]
  120. Lotfi, A.; Navaei, M.; Hesketh, P.J. A Platinum Cantilever-Based Thermal Conductivity Detector for Ammonia Sensing Using the 3-Omega Technique. ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 2019, 8, Q126-Q133. [CrossRef]
  121. Lotfi, A.; Navaei, M.; Hesketh, P.J. Balanced Dual Platinum Micro-Cantilever Thermal Conductivity Gas Sensor Using 3-Omega Technique. ECS Meet. Abstr. 2021, MA2021-01, 1547. [CrossRef]
  122. Gardner, J.W.; Bartlett, P.N. Electronic Noses: Principles and Applications; Oxford University Press on Demand: Oxford, UK, 1999.
  123. Sadek, K.; Moussa, W. Assessment of the Effect of Micro-Fabrication Uncertainties on the Sensitivity of Gas Sensors Using 3-D Finite Element Modeling. In Proceedings of the 2004 International Conference on MEMS, NANO and Smart Systems (ICMENS'04), Banff, AB, Canada, 25-27 August 2004; IEEE: Piscataway, NJ, USA, 2004; pp. 663-665.
  124. Son, K.; Liao, A.; Lung, G.; Gallegos, M.; Hatake, T.; Harris, R.D.; Scheick, L.Z.; Smythe, W.D. GaN-based high temperature and radiation-hard electronics for harsh environments. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. Lett. 2010, 2, 89-95. [CrossRef]
  125. Lee, A.P.; Reedy, B.J. Temperature modulation in semiconductor gas sensing. Sens. Actuators B Chem. 1999, 60, 35-42. [CrossRef]
  126. Urasinska-Wojcik, B.; Gardner, J.W. Identification of H2S impurity in hydrogen using temperature modulated metal oxide resistive sensors with a novel signal processing technique. IEEE Sens. Lett. 2017, 1, 1-4. [CrossRef]
  127. Li, F.; Jin, H.; Wang, J.; Zou, J.; Jian, J. Selective sensing of gas mixture via a temperature modulation approach: New strategy for potentiometric gas sensor obtaining satisfactory discriminating features. Sensors 2017, 17, 573. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  128. Durán, C.; Benjumea, J.; Carrillo, J. Response optimization of a chemical gas sensor array using temperature modulation. Electronics 2018, 7, 54. [CrossRef]
  129. Feng, S.; Farha, F.; Li, Q.; Wan, Y.; Xu, Y.; Zhang, T.; Ning, H. Review on smart gas sensing technology. Sensors 2019, 19, 3760.
  130. Disclaimer/Publisher's Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

Related papers

Simulation and Fabrication of an Ultra-Low Power Miniature Microbridge Thermal Conductivity Gas Sensor
Ricardo G-Aguilar

Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 2014

A miniature, ultra-low power, sensitive, microbridge-based thermal conductivity gas sensor has been developed. The batch fabrication of the sensors was realized by CMOS compatible processes and surface micromachining techniques. Doped polysilicon was used as the structural material of the bridge with critical dimension of 500 nm. A model of the microbridge was simulated in COMSOL that couples electrical and thermal physics together and includes minimal simplifications. Modeling results shows that the majority of heat is transferred via conduction through the gas gap under the bridge. Heat loss from constant voltage application was observed to be a function of the thermal conductivity of the gas ambient, resulting in different magnitude of resistance change. Maximum temperature occurs at the center of the bridge and could be as high as 800 K. Modeling results coincide with experimental data in predicting resistance changes. The sensor was tested with nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and helium. The response of the sensor to the mixtures of helium fractions in nitrogen was tested. We demonstrated that the sensitivity for helium in nitrogen was 0.34 m /ppm when operated at 3.6 V supplies (at power level of 4.3 mW). With a Wheatstone bridge with ac excitation and a lock-in amplifier the sensor limit of detection was ∼700 ppm helium in nitrogen. The stability of the sensor was excellent achieving over 30 billion measurements before failure.

View PDFchevron_right
Dynamic thermal conductivity sensor for gas detection
Pascal Tardy

Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 2004

A dynamic thermal conductivity sensor for gas detection based on the transient thermal response of a SiC microplate slightly heated by a screen-printed Pt resistance is described. This sensor is developed for specific applications such as the determination of carbon monoxide content in hydrogen for fuel cell, or that of methane in biogas applications. On the contrary of existing devices, the apparatus developed here does not need any reference cell, it operates in transient mode near room temperature ( T ≈ 5 K in air), so has a very low power requirements (≈5 mW) and keeps the gas near thermal equilibrium which simplifies the mathematical model and eases data processing. In test gases mixtures (N 2 + He), absolute and precise measurement of the gas thermal conductivity have been achieved, leading to the exact molar fraction of the gas to detect with a good reproducibility. (P. Tardy).

View PDFchevron_right
Implementation of CMOS compatible conductance-based micro-gas-sensor system
Muhammad yaqoob Afridi

… Conference on Circuit …, 2001

A CMOS compatible micro-gas-sensor system was designed and fabricated in a standard CMOS process through MOSIS [1]. The chip was postprocessed to create microhotplates using bulk micromachining techniques. Tin-oxide-sensing films were grown over post-patterned gold sensing electrodes using a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. The thermal properties of the microhotplates include a one-millisecond thermal time constant and a 10°C/mW thermal efficiency. The microhotplate operates at temperatures between 20°C and 450°C. Tinoxide-sensing films were isothermally characterized using different gas molecules and concentrations. This paper describes the fabrication, characterization, and design of interface circuitry of a novel CMOS integrated micro-gas-sensor system. .

View PDFchevron_right
Transient thermal response of micro-thermal conductivity detector (µTCD) for the identification of gas mixtures: An ultra-fast and low power method
Joseph Stetter

Microsystems & Nanoengineering, 2015

Micro-thermal conductivity detector (µTCD) gas sensors work by detecting changes in the thermal conductivity of the surrounding medium and are used as detectors in many applications such as gas chromatography systems. Conventional TCDs use steady-state resistance (i.e., temperature) measurements of a micro-heater. In this work, we developed a new measurement method and hardware configuration based on the processing of the transient response of a low thermal mass TCD to an electric current step. The method was implemented for a 100-µm-long and 1-µm-thick micro-fabricated bridge that consisted of doped polysilicon conductive film passivated with a 200-nm silicon nitride layer. Transient resistance variations of the µTCD in response to a square current pulse were studied in multiple mixtures of dilute gases in nitrogen. Simulations and experimental results are presented and compared for the time resolved and steady-state regime of the sensor response. Thermal analysis and simulation show that the sensor response is exponential in the transient state, that the time constant of this exponential variation was a linear function of the thermal conductivity of the gas ambient, and that the sensor was able to quantify the mixture composition. The level of detection in nitrogen was estimated to be from 25 ppm for helium to 178 ppm for carbon dioxide. With this novel approach, the sensor requires approximately 3.6 nJ for a single measurement and needs only 300 µs of sampling time. This is less than the energy and time required for steady-state DC measurements.

View PDFchevron_right
Characterization of embedded Micro-heater and Temperature Sensor in a CMOS-MEMS Resonator for gas sensing
Mawahib Abdalrahman, Umer Mian, Almur A S Rabih

In this paper, a CMOS-MEMS resonator is fabricated with embedded micro-heater and temperature sensor for application in the detection of ammonia in exhaled breath. The resonator is fabricated using commercial 0.35 µm CMOS technology. An aluminium micro-heater and temperature sensor is used to control the temperature of the sensing layer for the detection of ammonia. The measured value of the temperature sensor resistance is determined at room temperature (24.3 °C) and is found to be 184.8 Ω compared to the calculated value of 189.85 Ω, thereby showing good agreement within an error of 0.57 %. The temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the sensor is determined by measuring its resistance variation as a function of temperature from 25 °C to 100°C in 5°C increments. It is found to be 3.68×10−3/ °C and 3.79×10−3/ °C for the increasing and decreasing temperature measurements, respectively, with a percentage error of 5.6 % and 2.8 %, respectively, compared to the standard value of 3.9×10−3/ °C available in the literature. The effect of the humidity on the TCR is examined in the humidity range of 30 % RH to 90 % RH for the same temperature range of 25 °C to-40 °C and the humidity is found to have a negligible effect on the TCR of the temperature sensor.

View PDFchevron_right

Related topics

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Microelectromechanical systems
  • Electrical and Electronic Engine...
    • 580 California St., Suite 400
    San Francisco, CA, 94104
    © 2025 Academia. All rights reserved