HEAT-CONDUCTION MICROSENSOR BASED ON SILICON TECHNOLOGY FOR THE ANALYSIS OF 2-COMPONENT AND 3-COMPONENT GAS-MIXTURES

A sensor for measuring the thermal conductivity of gases is presented, which is suitable for the analysis of binary and ternary gas mixtures . The principle of thermal conductivity measurement is distinguished b y the lack of hysteresis, short response times, continuous measurement , low drift and lack of wear and tear. The dimensions of the sensor ch ip are 3.5 mm X 3.5 mm X 0.25 mm. The sensor has a power consumption o f 13 mW and a thermal time constant of 7.3 ms at 100 K over-temperatur e, with N2 as the test gas. This paper deals with the manufacture of t he sensor, the methods of describing its behaviour by simulation and t he test procedures for its characterization.