Ion Mobility Spectrometer Fabricated in LTCC

Multilayer ceramic packaging technology holds considerable promise as a platform to fabricate sensors for chemical analysis in remote locations. This paper describes the development of low-cost, remotely deployed sensors to determine chemical contamination concentrations in groundwater. An Ion Mobility Spectrometer (IMS) sensor was designed and fabricated using Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (LTCC) materials. The IMS measures the time of flight of an ion through an electric field at atmospheric pressure and correlates this time to a distinct chemical species. Current instruments are large, expensive, and have sizable power requirements. The LTCC IMS was designed for permanent deployment below ground to continuously analyze groundwater. Reduction in size and power consumption of the instrument was made possible by the novel use of LTCC packaging technology