A NOVEL SOLID-STATE OXYGEN SENSOR

A unique solid-state optical sensor configuration has been developed t hat can serve as a development platform for a host of chemical and bio chemical sensors in either gaseous or liquid environments. We describe the first adaptation of the device to oxygen sensing via fluorescence quenching and note the clear and distinct advantages over existing el ectrochemical and more recent fiber-optic methods. This platform techn ology features greatly enhanced energy efficiency, high sensitivity, l ow power consumption, ease of miniaturization, low cost, high-volume m anufacturability using standard methods, very fast response/recovery p rofiles, and high reliability.