STTR Phase I: CMOS integrated piezoelectric vapor sensors

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to improve safety by detecting toxic chemicals. Toxic chemicals present risks in many sectors; examples include the oil and gas industry, food quality monitoring, waste management optimization, agricultural pest infestations, and even breath analysis for disease detection. This project will advance the development of a low-cost, low-power vapor sensing system, with an initial focus on the threat detection and air quality monitoring market. This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project proposes a high sensitivity, micro-fabricated functionalized sensor. The proposed architecture fabricates a high-frequency bulk acoustic resonator directly on CMOS integrated circuits, enabling low-cost mass production and improves the noise characteristics of the sensor. This direct integration simplifies the architecture and allows for suppressed electrical noise and also enables fabrication of an array of highly specific sensors. The project's research objectives include receptor evaluation, resonator fabrication, receptor integration, and sensor testing to characterize the system in relevant applications. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.