Advanced Technologies

Gas Sensor Reduces Cost, Size

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) assist Ion Optics, Inc., a Waltham, Massachusetts-based company, to develop an infrared "gas sensor-on-a-chip" that re-duces the size and cost of equipment under terms of a new Advanced Technology Program award from the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The new microelectro-mechanical systems sensor reduces an expensive piece of equipment to one circuit, cutting down size and expense. It integrates elements of high-end industrial gas and chemical sensors onto a single chip that can be manufactured in high volume at low cost, taking advantage of new silicon integrated chip manufacturing techniques developed at JPL.

These techniques will provide an accurate and reliable gas sensor for such mass market applications as carbon monoxide detectors, and water and indoor air quality monitors. Additional applications include automobile exhaust monitoring, automobile "cabin" air quality, gasoline vapor emissions monitoring, oil quality monitoring, gas leak detectors, home food spoilage monitors, home fire/kitchen smoke detectors and non-invasive blood glucose monitoring.

Each application involves a sensor chip that works at a specific spectrum for that gas. JPL will use electron beam lithography techniques that allow for creating precisely controlled, nanometer-sized features on the sensor’s surface.

This new "sensor-on-a-chip" approach replaces separate component instruments in much the same way integrated circuits have replaced large electronic systems. The device will be more reliable and have greater accuracy than electrochemical sensors, and it will have reduced maintenance requirements over its expected operating life of 10 to 20 years.

Infrared gas and chemical sensors have historically served as reliable measurements of choice for specialized instruments in niche markets. Conventional infrared sensors have not achieved penetration into mass markets because of high costs. Simpler, standardized integrated chip component technology is needed to bring these high-quality sensors to mass markets.

The Advanced Technology Program is a partnership between government and private industry to accelerate the development of high-risk technologies that promise significant commercial payoffs and widespread benefits for the economy. The three-year award to Ion Optics specifies that JPL is to assist in sensor technology development. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California.