Strategies for gas sensing by means of surface acoustic wave sensors

Support IFCPAR/CEFIPRAInternational audienceAs previously presented, Surface Acoustic Wave or SAW-based devices are of great interest for gas sensing applications. The major advantages related to the transducer itself, such as high sensitivity and real-time capability, are emphasized by appropriate strategies in defining the sensitive coating, which plays a major role in terms of sensitivity, selectivity and stability of the resulting device, including reversibility.In order to illustrate these issues, different strategies involved in various applications studied at IMS labs are presented. In particular, we will focus on grafted fluoropolyol matrices used for the detection of organophosphorous compounds, as well as on structured thin-film materials emphasized for their high effective surface among other advantages, such as mesoporous silicon dioxide or titania. We will also introduce an increasing interest for carbonated materials such as nanotubes or graphene which could lead to unexpected sensitivities, for SAW microsensors and more generally for microtransducers based on high frequency resonant phenomenon