Statistics-Based Gas Sensor

Abstract

This paper reports a new proof-of-concept gas sensor based on statistical behavior of multiple gas molecules. The reported gas sensor, consisting of a tiny gap, provides on/off switching behavior as it captures the target gas molecules. The key innovation lies in the fact that such an off/off switching becomes statistically-reliable when multiple gaps and molecules are utilized. Such a statistics-based gas sensor was demonstrated by fabricating multiple nano-gap arrays, coating the gaps with specific chemistry linkers, and monitoring the reliability of the performance as well as other variables. The fabricated sensors in 1x1, 5x5 and 9x9 arrays showed statistics-based trends of (1) increasing decisiveness (sharper on/off slopes vs. concentrations), (2) decreasing failures (increasing repeatability) and (3) lower off-switching speed. The fabricated sensors also resulted in (4) ultra-low power of due to normally-off operation.