MEMS Based Integrated Particle Detection Chip for Real Time Environmental Monitoring

In this paper, we report design, fabrication and characterization of a MEMS based integrated particle detection chip for real time environmental monitoring. The chip is designed on the basis of aerosol technology and is realized using micromachining processes. The complete device is composed of two parts, one is a micro virtual impactor for the classification of particles according to their sizes and the other is a micro corona discharger for measuring the particle concentration. The integrated chip is used for classifying bigger and smaller size particles and finally determining the number concentration by measuring the current carried by charged particles. In this experiment, the cut-off diameter of the particle was 550 nm. Since conventional particle detection equipments are relatively big in size and expensive as well, the proposed device will be the first step to the realization of low-cost and real-time environmental monitoring.