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A miniature electronic nose system based on an MWNT–polymer microsensor array and a low-power signal-processing chip

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Abstract

This article introduces a power-efficient, miniature electronic nose (e-nose) system. The e-nose system primarily comprises two self-developed chips, a multiple-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT)–polymer based microsensor array, and a low-power signal-processing chip. The microsensor array was fabricated on a silicon wafer by using standard photolithography technology. The microsensor array comprised eight interdigitated electrodes surrounded by SU-8 “walls,” which restrained the material–solvent liquid in a defined area of 650 × 760 μm2. To achieve a reliable sensor-manufacturing process, we used a two-layer deposition method, coating the MWNTs and polymer film as the first and second layers, respectively. The low-power signal-processing chip included array data acquisition circuits and a signal-processing core. The MWNT–polymer microsensor array can directly connect with array data acquisition circuits, which comprise sensor interface circuitry and an analog-to-digital converter; the signal-processing core consists of memory and a microprocessor. The core executes the program, classifying the odor data received from the array data acquisition circuits. The low-power signal-processing chip was designed and fabricated using the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company 0.18-μm 1P6M standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor process. The chip consumes only 1.05 mW of power at supply voltages of 1 and 1.8 V for the array data acquisition circuits and the signal-processing core, respectively. The miniature e-nose system, which used a microsensor array, a low-power signal-processing chip, and an embedded k-nearest-neighbor-based pattern recognition algorithm, was developed as a prototype that successfully recognized the complex odors of tincture, sorghum wine, sake, whisky, and vodka.

The miniature e-nose device prototype

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology, Taiwan, for its technology consulting support and the National Science Council of Taiwan for its financial support (NSC 102-2220-E-007-006). The authors also thank Hung-Yi Hsieh, Meng-Fan Chang, Chih-Cheng Hsieh, and Jyuo-Min Shyu from National Tsing Hua University for chip design collaboration, and Li-Chun Wang from Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology for sensor design consulting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Shih-Wen Chiu, Ting-I Chou & Kea-Tiong Tang

  2. Institute of Electronics Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Hsiang-Chiu Wu & Hsin Chen

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  1. Shih-Wen Chiu
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  2. Hsiang-Chiu Wu
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  3. Ting-I Chou
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Correspondence to Kea-Tiong Tang.

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Published in the topical collection Chemosensors and Chemoreception with guest editors Jong-Heun Lee and Hyung-Gi Byun.

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Chiu, SW., Wu, HC., Chou, TI. et al. A miniature electronic nose system based on an MWNT–polymer microsensor array and a low-power signal-processing chip. Anal Bioanal Chem 406, 3985–3994 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-7547-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-013-7547-0

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