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A Methanol Sensor Incorporating Nanostructured ZnO and Integrated Micro-heater on Thermally Isolated Planar MEMS Platform

Authors:
Sudhir Chandra
Hardik Pandya
Anoop Vyas

Keywords: - Nanostructured ZnO; Thermal evaporation; MEMS Platforms; Methanol sensor

Abstract:
A sensor incorporating nanostructured zinc oxide film on planar and thermally isolated MEMS platform is reported for detecting methanol vapours. An innovative technique for fabricating sensor having integrated microheater with improved mechanical strength is presented. The proposed innovation facilitates the sensor to achieve desired temperature on the chip at lower power. The sensors are capable of detecting methanol vapours at 50 °C and at room temperature (30 °C) with slightly reduced sensitivity. To achieve the operating temperature of 50 °C and 30 °C, the sensor requires only 40 and 20 mW of power respectively. The lower operating temperature has been achieved due to the use of nanostructured material as sensing layer. The sensor is capable of giving detectable response for concentrations of methanol vapor as low as 5 ppm.

Pages: 83 to 88

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2012

Publication date: August 19, 2012

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-3514

ISBN: 978-1-61208-208-0

Location: Rome, Italy

Dates: from August 19, 2012 to August 24, 2012