Performance optimization of surface acoustic wave chemical sensors

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices coated with a thin layer of chemoselective material provide highly sensitive chemical sensors for the detection and monitoring of vapors and gases. In this work, a variety of coating materials and coating deposition techniques have been evaluated on SAW devices. A new technique, matrix assisted pulsed laser embossing, is utilized to deposit polymer films on SAW devices, and conventional pulsed laser deposition is used to deposit a passivation layer of diamond-like-carbon on a SAW device surface. Both the electrical characteristics and the performance of the prepared devices against different gases have been determined.