Title :
Gas Sensing Based on Inelastic Electron Tunneling Spectroscopy
Author :
Bommisetty, Venkat ; Bhandari, Sakshi ; Karmacharya, R.L. ; Rislov, D.A. ; Mileham, R.D. ; Galipeau, David ; Galipeau, D.W.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., South Dakota State Univ., Brookings, SD
fDate :
6/1/2008 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Odor detection with high reliability and selectivity is increasingly in demand in several fields, including defense, homeland security, clinical diagnosis, and air monitoring. Poor selectivity and reliability of existing gas sensor technology has been a major impediment in the development of a versatile odor detector. This work describes a new gas sensor technology based on inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) that may be able to identify gas molecules based on chemical bonds. The IETS responses of metal-insulator-metal tunnel junctions were measured at 77 and 300 K and the results suggest the potential of gas detection with ppm sensitivity. Despite thermal broadening, IETS peaks can be analyzed for room temperature gas identification.
Keywords :
MIM devices; electron spectroscopy; gas sensors; tunnelling spectroscopy; air monitoring; chemical bonds; clinical diagnosis; gas detection; gas molecules; gas sensing; homeland security; inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy; metal-insulator-metal tunnel junctions; odor detection; temperature 293 K to 298 K; temperature 300 K; temperature 77 K; Chemical sensors; Chemical technology; Clinical diagnosis; Electrons; Gas detectors; Impedance; Monitoring; Spectroscopy; Terrorism; Tunneling; Emerging gas sensing technologies; gas sensors; high selectivity gas sensors; tunnel junctions; tunneling spectroscopy;
Journal_Title :
Sensors Journal, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/JSEN.2008.923235