Integrated Chemical Microsensor Systems in CMOS Technology

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the very interdisciplinary ?eld of CMOS technology-based chemical microsensor systems. It is, on the one hand, targeted at scientists and engineers interested in getting ?rst - sights in the ?eld of chemical sensing since all necessary fundamental kno- edgeisincluded.Ontheotherhand,italsoaddressesexpertsinthe?eldsince it provides detailed information on all important issues related to realizing chemicalmicrosensorsand,speci?cally,chemicalmicrosensorsinCMOSte- nology. A large number of sensor and integrated-sensor-system implemen- tionsillustratethecurrentstateoftheartandhelptoidentifythepossibilities for future developments. Since microsensors produce ¿microsignals¿, sensor miniaturization without sensor integration is in many cases prone to failure. This book will help to reveal the bene?ts of using integrated electronics and CMOS-technology for developing chemical microsensor systems and, in p- ticular, the advantages that result from realizing monolithically integrated sensor systems comprising transducers and associated circuitry on a single chip. After a brief introduction, the fundamentals of chemical sensing are laid out,includingashortexcursionintotherelatedthermodynamicsandkinetics. Fabrication and processing steps that are commonly used in semiconductor industry are then abstracted. These more fundamental sections are followed by a short description of microfabrication techniques and the CMOS s- strateandmaterials.Thereafter,acomprehensiveoverviewofsemiconduct- based and CMOS-based transducer structures for chemical sensors is given.