Hybrid Hydrocarbon/Oxygen Sensor for Automotive Emissions Monitoring

50538-98-I Hybrid Hydrocarbon/Oxygen Sensor for Automotive Emissions Monitoring--SVT Associates, Inc., 7620 Executive Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344-3677; (612) 934-2100 Dr. Jody J. Klaassen, Principal Investigator Dr. Peter P. Chow, Business Official DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-98ER82684 Amount: $74,893 This project will develop of a high temperature stable oxygen sensor for combined gas phase hydrocarbon/oxygen monitoring of the efficiency of catalytic converters for removing uncombusted hydrocarbons from automobile exhaust. The combined sensor will be an all-solid- state device and will integrate a hydrocarbon sensor based on a catalytic metal/insulator capacitor with an oxygen sensor based on a thin film semiconducting metal oxide resistor. Materials used in the sensor will be are capable of operating at the high temperatures encountered in automobile exhaust. The oxide, Ga2O3, will be used as the high temperature stable oxygen sensor. At high temperatures (>850¿C) Ga2O3 becomes an n-type semiconductor, and therefore, its resistivity will be a function of the oxygen partial pressure in the ambient above the film. Phase I will focus on the deposition of amorphous and polycrystalline thin films of Ga2O2, the processing techniques necessary to wet chemically etch Ga2O3 films, and the characterization of the films for high temperature oxygen sensing. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The technology should be directly applicable to improved chemical sensors for reducing uncombusted hydrocarbon emissions from automobiles by improving engine and catalytic converter efficiency. _