Universal SAW gas sensor

A new principle of designing a SAW gas sensor is described. This sensor, being essentially of sorption type, also offers properties of thermometric SAW sensors. The basic idea here is that heat fluxes propagate between the SAW substrate and the working surface of the temperature-regulating system with some delay. A sensor based on this principle can detect not only the vapors of volatile substances but also gases by their thermal properties, retaining high temperature stability and speed of response unlike conventional SAW thermometric sensors. The design of this sensor built around a LiNbO₃ SAW delay line is described, and experiments on detecting a household propane-butane mixture with this sensor are reported. In particular, the responses of the sensor are measured at different gas-flow rates, two different SAW substrate temperatures, and two propane-butane concentrations. Ways of improving the sensor’s performance are discussed.