SBIR Phase I: MEMS Gas Sensor

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段SBIR研究项目将开发基于MEMS的碳氢化合物气体传感器原型。基于MEMS的气体传感器使用微制造的光子晶体来发射电磁光谱的特定部分中的红外光。波长可以通过设计来调谐，以与甲烷的吸收带重叠，例如，以制造甲烷或其他有毒或易燃气体的小型、灵敏、有效的检测器。基于MEMS的方法还包括微制造的抗反射表面，其使用微制造的亚波长特征来减小晶片材料的有效折射率。这种方法的更广泛的影响是生产基于MEMS的气体传感器，其在红外线中具有良好定义的吸收带。该技术可以容易地适于制造其它气体传感器，例如二氧化碳、一氧化碳、烃、一氧化氮、二氧化氮和含硫化合物。微制造的抗反射结构可以应用于红外装置，例如分光计、光学元件和其他红外发射器和检测器。甲烷传感器可以被制造成足够便宜以装备采矿队的个体成员，从而极大地提高采矿安全性。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I SBIR research project will prototype a MEMS-based hydrocarbon gas sensor. The MEMS-based gas sensor uses a microfabricated photonic crystal to emit infrared light in a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The wavelength can be tuned by design to overlap an absorption band of methane, for example, to make a small, sensitive, efficient detector of methane or other toxic or flammable gas. The MEMS-based approach also includes a microfabricated anti-reflective surface, which uses microfabricated sub-wavelength features to reduce the effective index of refraction of the wafer material. The broader impact of this approach is to produce MEMS-based gas sensors having a well defined absorption band in the infrared. The technique may be readily adapted to make other gas sensors, such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphurous compounds. The microfabricated anti-reflective structures may be applied to infrared devices such as spectrometers, optical elements, and other infrared emitters and detectors. Methane sensors may be made which are inexpensive enough to equip individual members of a mining team, greatly improving mining safety.