SBIR-STTR Award

We propose the first phase of a two-part research and development program aimed at realizing a practical silicon-based pollutant-monitoring technology. The microfabricated sensor chips that are the heart of the technology will respond to volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The chips employ ultrasonic measuring principles that have been shown in previous university research to result in extremely high sensitivity; in the work we propose, new techniques will be developed for achieving concomitant selectivity. The use of a silicon technology gives promise of a low-cost manufacture. The chips will be the basis of portable sensor systems that can be used for on-site VOC pollutant monitoring. The technology is generic in the sense that it can be applied later to the detection of other types of pollutants. In this phase we will design and build a chemical identification chip incorporating an ultrasonic flexural-plate-wave sensor and other micro-machined elements. We will design and test circuitry and algorithms to control the individual chip elements in order to make a chemical-measurement system. System performance will be measured upon exposure to two different volatile organic compounds in the presence of water vapor.

We propose the continuation of a research and development program aimed at realizing a practical silicon-based pollutant-monitoring technology. The silicon-micromachined chips at the heart of this technology will distinguish and quantify VOCs. The chips employ ultrasonic measuring principals that have been shown to provide high sensitivity; in the work we propose, new techniques will be developed for achieving high stability and concomitant selectivity. The use of silicon technology gives promise of low-cost manufacture. The chips will be the basis of portable sensor systems that can be used for on-site VOC pollutant monitoring. In this phase we will improve fabrication techniqes, design next-generation micromachined systems with improved performance, and perform extensive testing to demonstrate system performance. In addition, we will evaluate the ability of the technology for detecting liquid-phase organics. Considerable effort will be devoted to obtaining chemical selectivity using sensor arrays, pattern recognition, and a novel technique that exploits the dynamic response of the micromachined system. The results of the experiments will be used to make a portable prototype, which will be field-tested at a waste-remediation site.

Keywords:
MICROMACHINED CHEMICAL SENSOR VAPOR MONITOR ULTRASONIC POLLUTANT DETECTOR