Gas sensing becomes digital with the Micronas mySENS® technology
Introduction
Micronas gas sensors are based on a unique and proprietary technology called mySENS. The special feature distinguishing Micronas devices from others is their special CCFET setup. The CCFET technology (Capacitive Coupled Field Effect Transistor) is the way, our sensors detect gas concentration changes in the ambient air for a broad variety of applications.
For the detection of a target gas, a gas-sensitive layer is applied on a suspended gate that is mounted on top of a silicon chip. If this layer comes into contact with molecules of the target gas it responds with a change of its surface potential. The gas-sensitive layer is capacitively coupled to a large floating electrode which is connected to the floating gate of a conventional MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor).
Any gas-induced change of the gas-sensitive layer‘s surface potential is detected by the MOSFET and digitally processed by the integrated electronics.
What makes this way of gas detection so special? The interaction between the gas-sensitive layer and ambient gas molecules is a reversible dynamic process. This process takes place at room temperature allowing low-power, unheated operation for many gas species. All of this occurs without wear of the gas-sensitive layer.
By using different gas-sensitive layers, Micronas gas sensors are able to detect specific target gases like nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ammonia (NH3), hydrogen (H2) and volatile organic compounds (VOC).
Technology
- Versatile, integrated digital gas sensor technology
- CCFET technology – gas detection based on physical effect
- No heating required for most target gas species
- Fast detection of concentration changes of ambient trace gases
- Adjustable detection spectrum (by sensing layer and algorithms)
- Fabrication process embedded into Micronas’ CMOS manufacturing technology
Advantages
- System size and cost reduction by integrated solution with digital interface
- Multi-parametric detection with independent sensors for 2 gases, temperature and relative humidity
- Temperature and relative humidity sensors for compensation of gas sensor signals but also as measurement devices
- Integrated heating option
- Immunity against environmental interference, low cross sensitivities
