Low-cost electronics and thin film technology for sol–gel titania lambda probes

The introduction and clear benefits of silicon technology into automotive application were characterized by fast growth during last years. In effect, the technological innovation of microelectronics carried out a fast revolution into automotive fields, considering physical sensors, gyroscopes, accelerometers and combustion monitoring and air quality control devices. The present paper describes a typical application of the microsystem technology gas sensor products into automotive fields. In particular, the fabrication enhancements of a sol–gel Pd-doped TiO2 sensor will be investigated. Main advantages of the realized sensors are the reduced dimensions, the low power consumption, and the cheap fabrication process. Some advancements regarding silicon wafer batch production are presented, together with a custom electronic board realized for proportional–integral–derivative (PID) temperature control and digital signal conditioning of sensors signals.