A combinatorial approach for field-effect gas sensor research and development

A continuous two-dimensional variation of the properties of the gas sensitive layer of a metal-insulator-semiconductor structure has been analyzed with the scanning light pulse technique. This technique allows a lateral resolution of the local gas response and is, therefore, well suited for analyzing a device where each point of the gas sensitive layer has unique properties. The results show that this method has the potential to optimize the thickness combination of the metal films for a double-layer component to improve important sensor properties such as sensitivity, selectivity, and stability using a drastically reduced number of components.