Sensors Overview - Concepedia

Principles

Definition

Sensors is an interdisciplinary research field concerned with the principles, design, and application of devices and systems that detect, measure, and respond to physical, chemical, or biological inputs. It investigates the transformation of these stimuli into measurable signals, enabling monitoring, control, and data acquisition across diverse scientific, engineering, and technological domains.

Ontological type

Fundamental Principles

Core Technologies

Performance Metrics

Key developments

Key Figures

Interfacial Transduction Foundations era

Noboru Yamazoe[1] emerges as a leading figure in the Interfacial Transduction Foundations era, with affiliations spanning Nagasaki University[3] and Kyushu University[4] during this period. His key contributions, highlighted by the 1991 paper New approaches for improving semiconductor gas sensors[7], demonstrate how interfacial chemisorption and surface reactions were harnessed to enhance semiconductor gas-sensor performance, a cornerstone for sensitivity and selectivity in surface-driven transduction. Bruce R. Kowalski[2] conducted influential work across Washington University in St. Louis[5] and University of Washington[6] in this era. In particular, his 1986 paper Selection of adsorbates for chemical sensor arrays by pattern recognition[8] helped establish pattern-recognition approaches for selecting adsorbates in sensor arrays, enabling robust interpretation of transducer outputs in complex interfacial sensing contexts.

Integrated Nanoscale Transduction era

Jiřı́ Homola [1] is a leading sensor scientist active at the University of Washington [3] and the University of Utah [4] during the Integrated Nanoscale Transduction era (1994–2007). Homola [1] authored the 1999 Surface plasmon resonance sensors: review [7], which articulated how optical transduction could serve as a versatile, label-free signal modality and laid the groundwork for subsequent integration with micromachined and nanostructured transducers. Thiemo Voigt [2] is a prominent figure connected with Princeton University [5] and Freie Universität Berlin [6] during this era. Voigt [2] contributed through Contiki - a lightweight and flexible operating system for tiny networked sensors (2004) [8], which enabled lightweight networked sensing and on-device processing in resource-constrained environments, aligning with the era’s push for deployable, low-power sensing modules.

Autonomous Flexible Wearables era

Zhong Lin Wang [1] is a leading figure in the Autonomous Flexible Wearables era, with affiliations including Harvard University [3] and the Center for Excellence in Education [4]. His contributions include the Transparent Triboelectric Nanogenerators and Self-Powered Pressure Sensors Based on Micropatterned Plastic Films [7], Dynamic Pressure Mapping of Personalized Handwriting by a Flexible Sensor Matrix Based on the Mechanoluminescence Process [8], and Self-Powered High-Resolution and Pressure-Sensitive Triboelectric Sensor Matrix for Real-Time Tactile Mapping [9], which collectively established self-powered, high-resolution, skin-conformable sensing essential for continuous operation and robust health interfaces in this era. Wei Gao [2] is another prominent contributor in this era, with affiliations at University of California, San Diego [5] and University of California, Los Angeles [6]. His work culminates in Fully integrated wearable sensor arrays for multiplexed in situ perspiration analysis [10], a landmark that enabled multiplexed metabolite monitoring in wearable platforms.