ABSTRACT
The main disadvantage to semiconductor, piezoresistive devices is their significant temperature sensitivity. The development of digital component technology is no longer the forefront of research. The new challenge is the development of microsensors to interface the computer directly to the real world. A number of new materials are finding applications in mechanical micro-sensors. Pressure gauges are also manufactured using capacitance as the secondary sensor. This approach has been used in non-microsensors since the emergence of the instrumentation industry. Placing the strain sensor on a miniature cantilever or similar structure enables the construction of an accelerometer. Similarly, a miniature pressure sensor can be constructed using a quartz diaphragm. MOSFETs having a palladium or platinum coated gate can be used to construct a hydrogen gas sensor. The design strategy is to take an established ion-sensitive field effect transistor and surround it with a selective membrane that allows through the desired species.
