Surface Acoustic Wave Devices for Gas Sensing Applications

Michele Penza

PASTIS-CNRSM S.C.p.A., SS. 7, Appia, Km 7+300 per Mesagne, 72100 Brindisi – Italy.

An overview of the Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) gas sensors developed by PASTIS-CNRSM SCpA will be given. The gas sensing characteristics of these SAW gas sensor devices will be described with respect to transient response, calibration curves, response time, ageing, sensing mechanisms, cross-sensitivity, selectivity. It will be discussed the gas sensing properties of the used sensitive coatings, inorganic and organic, prepared by different process technology such as PVD systems, Langmuir-Blodgett, spin-coating techniques. Different SAW gas sensor configurations will be examined such as SAW delay line, resonator, oscillator, acoustic modes-transduction delay line, by indicating their main technical features and their gas sensing performances.

E-mail address: penza@cnrsm.it