Olfactory Sensors and MEMS Based Ultrasonic Transducers

随着人们对“物联网”的兴趣，特别是对新型仪器网络的兴趣，许多工业领域都需要研究新的传感器技术，包括汽车行业（加速、接近、成像）、石油、天然气和危险材料的运输（泄漏检测）、化妆品和安全（ppm水平的气味检测和识别）、医药（样品测试、成像）等等。我的研究将开发新的传感器，结合硅基技术和聚合物薄膜，用于嗅觉传感器阵列和基于微机电系统（MEMS）的超声波设备，用于医学成像和大气测试。****我项目的一个主题是集成硅基器件和专门设计的聚合物薄膜，用于检测挥发性有机化合物。采用硅技术，结合所有所需的数字和模拟电路，以混合方式，每个单独的传感器都使用特定应用的聚合物薄膜“功能化”。使用不同的聚合物材料，沉积工艺和不同的掺杂剂，这些聚合物将被设计成对广泛的嗅觉分子敏感。通过使用大量的传感器，统计和学习（AI）算法将被用来完全模拟哺乳动物的嗅觉。这种电子传感器阵列系统可用于感应和区分许多不同的化合物，用于许多不同的应用，包括化妆品，食品和饮料的大规模生产，在航运和/或航空工业中检测不同的燃料类型，甚至在生物恐怖主义和安全领域识别爆炸物。* ***该计划的第二个主题包括设计新的超声波换能器。我的团队开发了一种正在申请专利的传感器，用于成像水电电缆和医学成像中的缺陷。这项工作现在正在扩大到包括用于大气测试的传感器开发。MEMS传感器将根据不同的波束形状、频率和功率要求进行设计。我们过去的一些设计正在与马尼托巴大学和卡尔加里大学的其他研究人员合作，在微波/超声波成像系统中进行测试。我们的专利多膜传感器的初步结果是有希望的，但还需要做很多工作。* *** MEMS传感器也正在与康奈尔大学和塔夫茨大学以及美国宇航局的研究人员合作开发用于大气测试。这些风速计，用于测量风速和风向，需要在火星大气中工作，火星大气与地球大气大不相同，主要是二氧化碳，压力比地球低100倍。我们正在申请专利的传感器将进行重新设计，使其能够应用于未来的火星风速计。******

With the interest in the “internet of things” & specifically with new instrument networks, research of new sensor technologies is required for many in a number of industrial sectors, including in the automotive industry (acceleration, proximity, imaging), oil, gas & transportation of hazardous material (leak detection), cosmetics & security (odor detection & discrimination at ppm levels), & medicine (sample testing, imaging), to name a few. My research will develop new sensors that combine silicon based technologies & polymer thin films for olfactory sensor arrays & micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) based ultrasonic devices for medical imaging & atmospheric testing.**** One theme of my program is work on integrating of silicon-based devices with specifically design polymer films for sensing volatile organic compounds. Using silicon technology, with all of the required digital & analog circuitry, in a hybrid fashion, each individual sensor is “functionalised” using an application specific polymer films. Using different polymer materials, deposition processes & different dopants, these polymers will be designed to be sensitive to a wide range of olfactory molecules. By using large numbers of sensors statistical & learning (AI) algorithms will be used to fully mimic mammalian olfaction. Such electronic sensor array systems can be used to sense & discriminate between many different chemical compounds for many different applications that could include in the mass production of cosmetics, food & beverages, in the detection of different fuel types in either the shipping &/or aviation industries & even in the recognition of explosives in the areas of bio-terrorism & security.* *** A 2nd theme of this program includes the design of new ultrasonic transducers. A patent-pending transducer was developed by my group for imaging defects in hydro-electric cables and medical imaging. This work is now being expanded to include sensor development for atmospheric testing. MEMS transducers will be designed with different beam shapes, frequencies & power requirements. Some of our past designs are being tested in an microwave/ultrasonic imaging system in collaboration with other researchers at the University of Manitoba and Calgary.. Initial results from our patented multi-membrane transducer are promising, but much work is required.* *** MEMS transducers are also being developed for atmospheric testing in collaboration with researchers at Cornell & Tufts Universities and NASA. These anemometers, for wind speed & direction, need to work in the Martian atmosphere which is much different than Earth's and is mostly CO2 with a pressure 100 times less than Earth's. Our patent-pending sensor, will undergo a re-design to enable its application in future Mars anemometers.******