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The use of semiconducting metal-oxide (MOX) based gas sensors in demanding applications such as climate and environmental research as well as industrial applications is currently hindered by their poor reproducibility, selectivity, and sensitivity. This is mainly due to the sensing mechanism which relies on the change of conductivity of the metal-oxide layer. To be of use for advanced applications metal-oxide (MOX) gas sensors need to be carefully prepared and characterized in laboratory environments prior to deployment. This paper describes the working principle, design, and use of a new apparatus that can emulate real-world conditions in the laboratory and characterize the MOX gas sensor signal in tailor-made atmospheres. In particular, this includes the control of trace gas concentrations and the control of oxygen and humidity levels which are important for the surface chemistry of metal-oxide based sensors. Furthermore, the sensor temperature can be precisely controlled, which is a key parameter of semiconducting, sensitive layers, and their response to particular gas compositions. The setup also allows to determine the power consumption of each device individually which may be used for performance benchmarking or monitoring changes of the temperature of the gas composition. Both, the working principle and the capabilities of the gas measurement chamber are presented in this paper employing tin dioxide (SnO2) based micro sensors as exemplary devices.

No abstract

This paper describes a novel micromachined platform serving as an interface between nanosized, gas sensitive metal oxide particles, and the macroscopic world. Through a combination of ink-jet printing and microelectromechanical systems technologies, it thus becomes possible to quickly test and characterize new nanosized metal oxide particles with respect to their gas sensitivity. Within the framework of this report, we describe the design considerations, thermal finite-element method simulations, processing, characterization, and utilization of the platform. Due to the low-power consumption, the hotplate provides an experimental platform to test nanoparticle-based metal oxide gas sensors for mobile systems.[2014-0215]

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