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Studying the effects of siloxane poisoning on a SnO2 metal oxide semiconductor gas sensor in temperature cycled operation enabling self-monitoring and self-compensation

  • Caroline Schultealbert

    Caroline Schultealbert studied microtechnology and nanostructures at Saarland University and received her master’s degree in 2015. She finished her PhD. at the Lab for Measurement Technology at Saarland University in 2021, where she focussed on siloxane poisoning and model-based data evaluation. She is now working at 3S, which is a spin-off from Saarland University bringing the research results on MOS sensors into real world applications.

     ORCID logo EMAIL logo     , Tobias Baur

    Tobias Baur studied microtechnology and nanostructures at Saarland University and received his master’s degree in 2016. He finished his PhD. at the Lab for Measurement Technology at Saarland University in 2023, where he focussed on the full measurement chain for gas sensor systems: from sensor model over calibration and statistical training as well as validation to electronics – especially for the application of indoor air quality. He is now working at 3S, which is a spin-off from Saarland University bringing the research results on MOS sensors into real world applications.

         , Tilman Sauerwald

    Tilman Sauerwald received his PhD in 2007 at the University of Giessen working on the influence of surface reactions to the multi-signal generation of metal oxide sensors. From 2011–2020 he was Post-Doc at the Lab of Measurement Technology at the Saarland University, where he focussed on the detection of trace gases by developing of model-based techniques for multi-signal generation. Since 2020 he is Head of Department Analytics and Technologies at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising.

         and Andreas Schütze

    Andreas Schütze studied Physics and received his doctorate in Applied Physics from Justus-Liebig-Universität in Gießen in 1994 with a thesis on micro gas sensor systems. After some years in industry, he joined the University of Applied Sciences in Krefeld, Germany, as professor for Microsystems Technology from 1998 to 2000. Since 2000 he is a full professor for measurement science and technology in the Department Systems Engineering at Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany. His research interests include microsensors and microsystems, especially advanced chemical sensor systems, both for gas and liquid phase, for security and control applications.

     ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: October 12, 2023
tm - Technisches Messen
From the journal tm - Technisches Messen Volume 90 Issue 11

Abstract

This work studies poisoning by the cyclic siloxane octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane on a commercially available semiconductor gas sensor in TCO (temperature cycled operation). The data is evaluated using the Sauerwald-Baur model and the DSR method (differential surface reduction). The sensitivity towards several gases (volatile organic compounds, hydrogen and carbon monoxide) is evaluated and compared with a sensor in constant temperature operation mode. The physical and chemical processes on the sensitive layer as well as the resulting selectivity towards hydrogen are discussed. A feature is identified that can be derived from the Sauerwald-Baur model (the differential surface oxidation, DSO) and that quantitatively expresses the sensor condition regarding siloxane poisoning. With the help of this feature, a self-compensation of the sensor signal is demonstrated.

Kurzfassung

Untersucht wird die Vergiftung eines kommerziell erhältlichen Halbleitergassensors im temperaturzyklischen Betrieb (TCO, engl. temperature cycled operation) durch das zyklische Siloxan Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxan. Die Datenauswertung erfolgt dabei anhand des Sauerwald-Baur-Modells und mit Hilfe der differenziellen Oberflächenreduktion (DSR, engl. differential surface reduction). Der Empfindlichkeitsverlust für verschiedene Gase (mehrere flüchtige organische Verbindungen, Wasserstoff und Kohlenmonoxid) wird ausgewertet und mit einem Sensor, der bei konstanter Temperatur betrieben und vergiftet wurde, verglichen. Die physikalischen und chemischen Prozesse auf der Oberfläche der sensitiven Schicht sowie die entstehende Selektivität auf Wasserstoff werden diskutiert. Ein Merkmal, das aus dem Sauerwald-Baur-Modell abgeleitet werden kann (die differenzielle Oberflächenoxidation, DSO, engl. differential surface oxidation), wird vorgestellt. Mit diesem Merkmal kann der Sensorzustand in Bezug auf Siloxanvergiftung quantitativ ausgewertet werden. Eine Selbstkompensation des Sensorsignals auf Basis dieses Merkmals wird demonstriert.

Keywords: metal oxide semiconductor gas sensor; siloxane poisoning; sensor self-test
Schlagworte: Metalloxid Halbleitergassensor; Siloxanvergiftung; Sensor Selbsttest
Corresponding author: Caroline Schultealbert, Lab for Measurement Technology, Saarland University, Campus A5.1, Saarbrücken, 66123, Germany, E-mail:

About the authors

Caroline Schultealbert

Caroline Schultealbert studied microtechnology and nanostructures at Saarland University and received her master’s degree in 2015. She finished her PhD. at the Lab for Measurement Technology at Saarland University in 2021, where she focussed on siloxane poisoning and model-based data evaluation. She is now working at 3S, which is a spin-off from Saarland University bringing the research results on MOS sensors into real world applications.

Tobias Baur

Tobias Baur studied microtechnology and nanostructures at Saarland University and received his master’s degree in 2016. He finished his PhD. at the Lab for Measurement Technology at Saarland University in 2023, where he focussed on the full measurement chain for gas sensor systems: from sensor model over calibration and statistical training as well as validation to electronics – especially for the application of indoor air quality. He is now working at 3S, which is a spin-off from Saarland University bringing the research results on MOS sensors into real world applications.

Tilman Sauerwald

Tilman Sauerwald received his PhD in 2007 at the University of Giessen working on the influence of surface reactions to the multi-signal generation of metal oxide sensors. From 2011–2020 he was Post-Doc at the Lab of Measurement Technology at the Saarland University, where he focussed on the detection of trace gases by developing of model-based techniques for multi-signal generation. Since 2020 he is Head of Department Analytics and Technologies at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV in Freising.

Andreas Schütze

Andreas Schütze studied Physics and received his doctorate in Applied Physics from Justus-Liebig-Universität in Gießen in 1994 with a thesis on micro gas sensor systems. After some years in industry, he joined the University of Applied Sciences in Krefeld, Germany, as professor for Microsystems Technology from 1998 to 2000. Since 2000 he is a full professor for measurement science and technology in the Department Systems Engineering at Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany. His research interests include microsensors and microsystems, especially advanced chemical sensor systems, both for gas and liquid phase, for security and control applications.

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Author contributions: The authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission. CS: manuscript writing, measurements, data treatment. TB: data treatment, measurement setup, proofreading. TS: supervisor. AS: supervisor, proofreading.

  3. Competing interests: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Research funding: None declared.

  5. Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request from the corresponding author.

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Received: 2023-04-10
Accepted: 2023-09-01
Published Online: 2023-10-12
Published in Print: 2023-11-26

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. XXXVI. Messtechnisches Symposium des AHMT in Magdeburg
  4. Research Articles
  5. Studying the effects of siloxane poisoning on a SnO2 metal oxide semiconductor gas sensor in temperature cycled operation enabling self-monitoring and self-compensation
  6. Investigations on terthiophene as an electrically conductive polymer for UV laser lithography
  7. Properties and special phenomena of strain sensors made of carbon particle-filled elastomers
  8. Machine learning approach for impedance locus uncertainties
  9. Investigation of cross-sensitivities of the potential drop method for structural health monitoring of civil structures
  10. Modular Direct Laser Writing setup for high precision nanostructuring
https://doi.org/10.1515/teme-2023-0065
Keywords for this article
metal oxide semiconductor gas sensor; siloxane poisoning; sensor self-test

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. XXXVI. Messtechnisches Symposium des AHMT in Magdeburg
  4. Research Articles
  5. Studying the effects of siloxane poisoning on a SnO2 metal oxide semiconductor gas sensor in temperature cycled operation enabling self-monitoring and self-compensation
  6. Investigations on terthiophene as an electrically conductive polymer for UV laser lithography
  7. Properties and special phenomena of strain sensors made of carbon particle-filled elastomers
  8. Machine learning approach for impedance locus uncertainties
  9. Investigation of cross-sensitivities of the potential drop method for structural health monitoring of civil structures
  10. Modular Direct Laser Writing setup for high precision nanostructuring
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