Title :
Sensitive and Selective Photoacoustic Gas Sensor Suitable for High-Volume Manufacturing
Author :
Schjølberg-Henriksen, Kari ; Schulz, Olaf ; Ferber, Alain ; Moe, Sigurd ; Lloyd, Martin ; Müller, Gerhard ; Suphan, Karl-Heinz ; Wang, Dag T. ; Bernstein, Ralph W.
Author_Institution :
SINTEF, Oslo
Abstract :
Sensitive and selective gas measurements are crucial for a large variety of applications. This paper describes the manufacturing and characterization of a photoacoustic gas sensor system. The system is based on a pressure sensor element with a sensitivity of 10 muV/V/Pa. To demonstrate and evaluate the concept, 12 prototypes for measuring CO2 have been manufactured and characterized. Detection limits ranging from 92 ppm to below 6 ppm CO2 were obtained with a path length of 10 cm, depending on the measurement time and photoacoustic cell design. Measurements showed no cross-sensitivity towards CO, CH4, or humidity in any of the sensors. The temperature drift of the uncompensated raw signal of two sensor designs was below 117 ppm CO2 in the range from 25degC to 50degC.
Keywords :
acoustic transducers; carbon compounds; gas sensors; microsensors; optical sensors; photoacoustic effect; pressure sensors; CO2; carbon dioxide measurement; detection limitation; high-volume manufacturing; measurement time; microelectromechanical devices; microsensors; photoacoustic cell design; photoacoustic effects; pressure sensor element; selective photoacoustic gas sensor system; semiconductor device measurements; sensitive gas measurements; temperature 25 C to 50 C; temperature drift; Gas detectors; Humidity measurement; Length measurement; Pressure measurement; Prototypes; Pulp manufacturing; Sensor phenomena and characterization; Sensor systems; Temperature sensors; Time measurement; Gas detectors; microelectromechanical devices; microsensors; photoacoustic effects; semiconductor device measurements; sensitivity;
Journal_Title :
Sensors Journal, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/JSEN.2008.923588
