A ratiometric vapor sensor is described that includes a first sensor and a second sensor. The first sensor includes a first semiconductor component comprising a vapor-sensitive semiconducting organic compound, while the second sensor includes a second semiconductor component comprising a modified vapor-sensitive semiconducting organic compound including a modifying organic group. The ratiometric vapor sensor can be used to detect the presence of a vapor such as nitrogen dioxide, and determine the concentration of the vapor by comparing the outputs of electrodes connected to the first and second sensor.

Provided is a sensing method of a FET-type sensor using electric charge storage engineering. The sensing method comprises the following steps to improve reactivity and selectivity to a gas to be sensed: (a) applying a preset erase voltage (Erase bias) or program voltage (Program bias) to the control gate according to the type of gas to be sensed to change a threshold voltage of the FET transducer and control the charge at an interface between the passivation layer and the sensing material layer; and (b) in the recovery phase where the gas detection reaction is terminated and the original state is returned, applying a pre-bias greater or less than a read voltage to the control gate according to the type of gas detected, and then applying the read voltage to the drain and the source of the FET transducer to increase the desorption rate of the detected gas.

An ion-sensitive sensor includes a dielectric layer comprising Al.sub.2O.sub.3 having a functionalized surface configured to bond with an analyte. The ion-sensitive sensor is immersed in an electrolytic solution containing a concentration of alkali ions. An electrode is arranged to apply an electric potential to the functionalized surface of the ion-sensitive sensor. In some embodiments the ion-sensitive sensor is an ion-sensitive silicon FET. In some embodiments the ion-sensitive sensor is an ion-sensitive polymer FET. In some embodiments, the electrode comprises a perforated gate metal layer disposed on the gate dielectric layer of an ion-sensitive FET, and the functionalized surface is disposed in openings of the perforated gate metal layer. In some embodiments the dielectric layer comprises a multi-layer dielectric stack including at least one Al.sub.2O.sub.3 layer. In some embodiments the dielectric layer is deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD).

A gas-measuring chip (10), used with a gas-measuring device (100) of a portable chip measurement system, has a carrier (11) and measuring channels (20, 20′, 20″). A regenerable, nonconsumable sensor (30, 30′, 30″) is arranged in each measuring channel. A method includes inserting the gas-measuring chip (10) into the gas-measuring device (100) and connecting one measuring channel of the gas-measuring chip (10) to a pumping system (120, 121) of the gas-measuring device (100). A measurement is carried out with a first measuring channel (20, 20′, 20′) with a switching over to a measuring channel different from the first measuring channel. The sensors (30, 30′, 30″) of the measuring channel used last is regenerated and optionally simultaneously there is a measurement with the measuring channel switched over to. There is a switching over to a measuring channel, which is different from the measuring channel last used for the measurement.

In one embodiment, a chemical sensor is described. The chemical sensor includes a chemically-sensitive field effect transistor including a floating gate conductor having an upper surface, a first opening extending through a first material and through a portion of a second material located on the first material and a second opening extending from the bottom of the first opening to the top of a liner layer located on the upper surface of the floating gate conductor.

In one embodiment, a chemical sensor is described. The chemical sensor includes a chemically-sensitive field effect transistor including a floating gate conductor having an upper surface, a first opening extending through a first material and through a portion of a second material located on the first material and a second opening extending from the bottom of the first opening to the top of a liner layer located on the upper surface of the floating gate conductor.

A sensing device including a transistor, at least one response electrode, and a selective membrane is provided. The transistor includes a gate end, a source end, a drain end, and a semiconductor layer, wherein the source end and the drain end are located on the semiconductor layer, and the gate end is located between the source end and the drain end. The at least one response electrode is disposed opposite to the gate end of the transistor and spaced apart from the transistor. The selective membrane is located on the at least one response electrode or on the transistor.

A electronic device and a fabrication method is provided. The electronic device having a first electrode and a second electrode. A nano-gap is formed between first and second electrode. The first electrode, the second electrode and the gap may be located in the same layer of the device.

Disclosed is an olfaction system based on integration of gas sensitive conducting polymers and Floating Gate Metal Oxide Semiconductor (FGMOS) sensors. A sensing polymer, polypyrrole for example, is electrochemically deposited onto sensor pads which are electrically connected to floating gate of the sensor. The response of these sensing polymers to any vapour analyte can be tailored using several techniques that include the use of different dopants, changing electrolyte concentrations or varying growth potential at the time of electrodeposition. Using an array of floating gate sensors, coupled to these chemically diverse polymers, this system will facilitate a signature-like response from the sensors in the array. Every sensor can be accessed and analysed individually using a specially designed addressing circuit. The response from the sensors is amplified through a trans-impedance amplifier and converted to 8-bit digital data for ease of analyte identification and quantification.

The described embodiments may provide a chemical detection circuit. The chemical detection circuit may comprise a column of chemically-sensitive pixels. Each chemically-sensitive pixel may comprise a chemically-sensitive transistor, and a row selection device. The chemical detection circuit may further comprise a column interface circuit coupled to the column of chemically-sensitive pixels and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) coupled to the column interface circuit. Each column interface circuit and column-level ADC may be arrayed with other identical circuits and share critical resources such as biasing and voltage references, thereby saving area and power.