Ultra-fast/low volume odour delivery package for chemical microsystems

The paper reports on a novel low volume delivery system for ultra-fast odour detection. A miniature microchannel delivery package has been designed and fabricated using stereolithography (STL) and interfaced to a silicon microsensor array, realising a chemical microsystem. Such a system significantly reduces both the volume of analyte required and the response time. In addition, the combination has the added advantages of miniaturisation, e.g., lower power consumption, size and weight. Initial investigations show that the microsystem is capable of responding to both simple and complex odorants with response times of less than 100 ms. We believe that this type of chemical microsystem provides a cost-effective solution suitable for future commercialisation.