ABSTRACT
Sensors operating with sensitive polymers generally consist of an inorganic part and a polymer film that interacts with the environment. This chapter discusses the typical device structures that can be used to measure the changes in the properties of the polymer films. The most important structures can be categorized into the following groups: impedance-type sensors, semiconductor-based sensors, resonant sensors, chemical sensors, calorimetric sensors, and fibre-optic sensors. Extrinsic fibre-optic sensors can be fabricated for the detection of physical quantities from polymer fibres and polymer membranes. These sensors are based on the modulation of reflected light intensity measurements. The most important difference from the former polymer-based fibre-optic sensor types is that the behaviour of this present type sensor is determined by the mechanical properties of the polymer membrane and not by the the optical parameter changes in the light guiding or reflecting media.
