A Computer Controlled Test System for Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Resonator (MEMS Resonator) Gas Sensors

摘要

This paper describes a computer-controlled test system designed and developed to measure and characterize the response of MEMS Resonator Gas Sensors to various gas mixtures and concentrations and temperature. The change in the resonance frequency of the MEMS resonator due to the absorbed mass of gas molecules on a thin film coating of a polymer layer is being used as a microbalance to measure hazardous gases and volatile compounds. The automated test system developed employs LabView as the software platform for interfacing, communication, data acquisition and control between a personal computer and the test setup via the GPIB bus and the USB and serial ports. The LabView program written controls the injection time of the gas to be sensed, monitors the flow rate, measures and controls the temperature of the chip and monitors and records the frequency of the electro-mechanical oscillations generated in the MEMS resonator. The development of the test system was done by a team of students as a part of their undergraduate senior design projects in electrical engineering at USM.