ABSTRACT
Chemical interactions at the gas/solid or liquid/solid interface can be studied by examining their characteristic absorption spectra. Upon reaching the excited state these systems may relax via radiationless de-excitation pathways, resulting in local heating. If the excitation source is pulsed at an appropriate frequency, thermal waves produced by a sub-monolayer coating of chromophoric material can be detected by using a pyroelectric material (PEM). The application of a temperature gradient across a PBM produces an electrical potential which can be monitored if both sides of the PEM are coated with a thin metal film. This forms the basis for a chemical sensor in which one side of the PEM is coated with a chemically selective chromophoric surface. The type of metal coating can be chosen to suit the chemistry being stabilized at the surface. This paper introduces the possibility of chemical sensor development involving stabilization of sulfur-terminated chemicals onto PEM's that are coated with gold and will provide results which demonstrate the potential of this transduction scheme.
