IMM Bologna has a strong expertise in miniaturization of metal-oxide gas sensors (MOX sensors). The approach targets high-TRL prototypes by developing full wafer-level production processes of ultra-miniature MOX sensors based on bulk micromachined hotplate arrays and wafer-level deposition techniques of the nanostructured sensing thin films. Furthermore, the use of fast temperature modulation techniques allows for sub-milliwatt power consumption, making the ultra-low-power (ULP) MOX sensors suitable for integration into mobile sensing devices, including future smartphones. Encapsulated MOX arrays with nanoliter volume microchambers for forced flow applications (e.g. detectors for gas-chromatography) are also available. IMM Bologna activities include sensor prototyping, development of custom based electronics like USB-pen MOX array drivers and signal processing algorithms. MEMS-based thermal conductivity detectors (TCDs) for portable micro-gas-chromatographic applications are also developed. They are based on heaters suspended on dielectric membranes and wafer-level encapsulation of the sensing chamber by anodic bonding technique.

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Contact person: Stefano Zampolli