Dynamic bifurcation MEMS gas sensors

A novel electrostatic MEMS gas sensor is demonstrated. It employs a dynamic-bifurcation detection technique. The sensor detects ethanol vapor in a binary mode, reporting ON-state (1) for concentrations above a preset threshold and OFF-state (0) for concentrations below the threshold. The sensing mec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of micromechanics and microengineering 2019-01, Vol.29 (1), p.15005
Main Authors: Al-Ghamdi, M S, Khater, M E, Stewart, K M E, Alneamy, A, Abdel-Rahman, E M, Penlidis, A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
bifurcation-based sensing
binary detection
electrostatic MEMS
gas sensors
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Summary:A novel electrostatic MEMS gas sensor is demonstrated. It employs a dynamic-bifurcation detection technique. The sensor detects ethanol vapor in a binary mode, reporting ON-state (1) for concentrations above a preset threshold and OFF-state (0) for concentrations below the threshold. The sensing mechanism exploits the qualitative difference between the sensor state before and after the dynamic pull-in bifurcation. Experimental demonstration was carried out using a laser Doppler vibrometer to measure the sensor response before and after detection. The sensor was able to detect ethanol vapor concentrations as 100 ppb in dry nitrogen. A closed-form expression for the sensitivity of dynamic bifurcation sensors was derived. It captures the dependence of sensitivity on the sensor dimensions, material properties, and electrostatic field.
ISSN:0960-1317
1361-6439
DOI:10.1088/1361-6439/aaedf9