MIME Chemical Vapor Microsensors
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Description:
The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has developed a technology for detecting chemical vapors using low power, low cost, tunable microsensors. This technology is based on metal nanoparticles encapsulated by a single layer of organic molecules. When configured as a film of nanoparticles connected to a small bias current, exposure to a vapor causes conductance changes in the film. The conductance path through the film involves electron tunneling across the somewhat insulating monolayer junctions between nanoparticle conducting cores – referred to as a nanometer-scale metal-insulator-metal ensemble (MIME). Tuning these MIME sensors to a particular vapor is accomplished by designing the structure of the organic molecule in the encapsulating shell to interact with that particular vapor.Advantages/Features Include:
- Tunable to analyte of interest
- High sensitivity - better than ppm
- Low power (milliwatts to microwatts) and low cost (disposable)
- Rapid response time - 0.1 to 10 seconds
- Integrates with planar lithography
- Portable - can be integrated into a handheld device
Applications Include:
- Medical Diagostics - breath analysis
- Chemical and Explosive Vapor Detection
- Substance Identification - "electronic nose"
- Air Monitoring
References:
- "Colloidal Metal-Insulator-Metal-Ensemble Chemiresistor Sensor" Anal. Chem. 1998, 70 (14), 2856 - 2859.
- "Scaling Properties of Gold Nanocluster Chemiresistor Sensors" IEEE Sensors Journal 2006, 6 (6), 1403 - 1414.
- "MIME Chemical Vapor Microsensors," NRL Review 2002.
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Contact:
Naval Research LaboratoryTechnology Transfer Office, Code 1004
techtran@research.nrl.navy.mil