Contact CMOS imaging of gaseous oxygen sensor array.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Chemical Sensing

Background:

• Developing miniaturized optical chemical gas sensors is crucial for various applications.
• Existing microsystems often face challenges in integration and power consumption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a compact luminescent gaseous oxygen (O2) sensor microsystem.
• To demonstrate direct integration of sensor elements with a polymeric optical filter and a low-power CMOS imager.

Main Methods:

• Utilized tris(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) ruthenium(II) ([Ru(dpp)3]2+) luminophore encapsulated in sol-gel xerogel films for O2 detection.
• Integrated a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) optical filter with microstructures and a 32x32 CMOS imager.
• Employed contact printing for sensor array fabrication and phototransistors for signal conversion.

Main Results:

• Successfully integrated luminescent O2 sensing elements with a polymeric optical filter and a low-power CMOS imager.
• Achieved low power consumption: 320 µW static and 625 µW dynamic at 100 Hz.
• Demonstrated a functional microsystem for optical gas sensing.

Conclusions:

• The developed CMOS sensor system is a viable platform for miniaturized optical chemical gas sensors.
• The direct integration approach offers a pathway for compact and efficient gas sensing solutions.
• Further development can lead to advanced portable gas detection devices.