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Microcantilever-based gas sensor employing two simultaneous physical sensing modes

Patent ·
OSTI ID:1134683

According to one embodiment, a system for detecting and identifying gases includes a piezoresistive microcantilever transducer, wherein dissipation of heat from the piezoresistive microcantilever into one or more gases is measured by changes in an electrical resistance of the piezoresistor, a vibrating microcantilever transducer, wherein shifts are measured in resonant frequency of the vibrating microcantilever due to viscous damping thereof by the one or more gases, and a subsystem for correlating the measured resistance changes and the resonant frequency shifts to the one or more gases. In another embodiment, a method for detecting and identifying one or more gases includes determining dissipation of heat from a microcantilever into one or more gases, and determining shifts in resonant frequency of the microcantilever due to viscous damping thereof by the one or more gases. Other systems, methods, and computer program products are also described according to more embodiments.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
Assignee:
Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (Livermore, CA)
Patent Number(s):
8,762,075
Application Number:
12/852,416
OSTI ID:
1134683
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (11)

Piezoelectric Sorption Detector. journal August 1964
Dependence of the quality factor of micromachined silicon beam resonators on pressure and geometry journal January 1992
Thermal conduction between a heated microcantilever and a surrounding air environment journal June 2009
An analytic model of thermal drift in piezoresistive microcantilever sensors journal March 2010
Viscous damping of microresonators for gas composition analysis journal April 2006
Dynamic thermal conductivity sensor for gas detection journal March 2004
Explosion-proof monitoring of hydrocarbons by mechanically stabilised, integrable calorimetric microsensors journal October 2003
Detection and discrimination of pure gases and binary mixtures using a dual-modality microcantilever sensor journal April 2010
Acoustic Wave Microsensor Arrays for Vapor Sensing journal July 2000
Modeling and performance of uncoated microcantilever-based chemical sensors journal January 2010
Thermal and gas-sensing properties of a micromachined thermal conductivity sensor for the detection of hydrogen in automotive applications journal April 2002

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