Silicone polymer chemical vapor sensors fabricated by direct polymer patterning on substrate technique (DPPOST)

Soft polymeric materials have proven to provide a host of new capabilities for micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). However, the direct patterning of soft polymeric materials on substrates is not as developed as those found in photolithographic technologies for MEMS. This paper demonstrates the patterning of fully aligned soft polymeric materials, such as the room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone, on glass or silicon substrates using the direct polymer patterning on substrate technique (DPPOST). The patterned polymer line width of ∼10 μm has been achieved using this technique. By utilizing this newly developed fabrication technology, single and array elements of silicone–carbon black polymeric chemical vapor sensor has been fabricated and tested for the intended application in electronic nose systems. The sensors have been shown to be sensitive to common solvents such as acetone, methanol, ethanol and 2-propanol. Simple noise measurement experiments also show the insensitivity of the sensor noise to the chemical vapor concentrations.