2013 Awards for Excellence

Citation

Hunter, G. (2014), "2013 Awards for Excellence", Sensor Review, Vol. 34 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/SR-01-2014-001

2013 Awards for Excellence

Article Type: 2013 Awards for Excellence From: Sensor Review, Volume 34, Issue 1

The following article was selected for this year’s Outstanding Paper Award for Sensor Review

"Nanostructured material sensor processing using microfabrication techniques"

Gary Hunter
NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Randy Vander Wal
USRA at NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Laura Evans and Jennifer Xu
NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Gordon Berger, Michael Kullis
USRA at NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Azlin Biaggi-Labiosa
NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Purpose – The development of chemical sensors based on nanostructures, such as nanotubes or nanowires, depends on the capability to reproducibly control the processing of the sensor. Alignment and consistent electrical contact of nanostructures on a microsensor platform is challenging. This can be accomplished using labor-intensive approaches, specialized processing technology, or growth of nanostructures in situ. However, the use of standard microfabrication techniques for fabricating nanostructured microsensors is problematic. The purpose of this paper is to address this challenge using standard photoresist processing combined with dielectrophoresis.
Design/methodology/approach – Nanostructures are suspended in photoresist and aligned between opposing sawtooth electrode patterns using an alternating current (AC) electric field (dielectrophoresis). The use of photoresist processing techniques allows the burying of the nanostructures between layers of metal, thus improving the electrical contact of the nanostructures to the microsensor platform.
Findings – This approach is demonstrated for both multi-walled carbon nanotubes and tin oxide nanowires. Preliminary data show the electrical continuity of the sensor structure as well as the response to various gases.
Research limitations/implications – It is concluded that this approach demonstrates a foundation for a new tool for the fabrication of microsensors using nanostructures and can be expanded towards enabling the combination of common microfabrication techniques with nanostructured sensor development.
Originality/value – This approach is intended to address the significant barriers of deposition control, contact robustness, and simplified processing to realizing the potential of nanotechnology as applied to sensors.

Keywords: Intelligent sensors, Microsensors, Nanotechnology, Sensors

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/SR-01-2014-001

This article originally appeared in Volume 32 Number 2, 2012, pp. 106-117, Sensor Review

"Fiber optic displacement sensor for micro-thickness measurement"

H. Ahmad, M. Yasin, K. Thambiratnam and S.W. Harun

This article originally appeared in Volume 32 Number 3, 2012, Sensor Review

"Design and fabrication of a thin and soft tactile force sensor array based on conductive rubber"

Xuefeng Zhang, Yulong Zhao and Xuelei Zhang

This article originally appeared in Volume 32 Number 4, 2012, Sensor Review

"A pressure mapping imaging device based on electrical impedance tomography of conductive fabrics"

A. Yao and M. Soleimani

This article originally appeared in Volume 32 Number 4, 2012, Sensor Review

Outstanding reviewer

Dr Ovidiu Ghita

Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland