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Universal Sensor Array
Background
 A new microcantilever-based sensor design will be developed to detect
the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOC's) as airborne vapors,
ground-based vapors, or in liquids. An embedded piezoresistive
microcantilever array (EPMA) merges qualities of earlier chemiresistor-based
sensors with new microcantilever devices, producing tiny, robust sensing
elements that require only simple, inexpensive support electronics to
operate and send data. Additionally, this same EPMA sensor design may be
used as a common platform technology, easily extended to other sensing
duties such as the detection of biological molecules, various warfare
agents, or other environmental contaminants.
Operation
The construction of rugged, inexpensive, reliable and small chemical
microsensors is of current interest in the detection and identification
of chemical vapors alone or in a complex mixture. Introduction of an
analyte of interest causes polymer swelling and consequent resistance
changes for the films.
These changes arise because polymer swelling drops the conductivity
through its percolation threshold. To identify specific vapors from a
suite of possible substances and to determine the concentration of that
vapor or to carry out similar measurements on multi-component systems
requires the construction of arrays of sensing elements. Pattern
recognition techniques or principal component analysis of the output of
an array of sensors can be used for purposes of analyte identification
and quantification.
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