Current applications and new trends in mid-infrared sensor technology and integrated scanning probe sensors

Chemical sensor technology is one of the fastest growing research areas and can be identified as a key technological area in modern analytical chemistry. The increasing interest in sensing systems is driven to a significant extent by the multifaceted range of in-situ and on-line applications, demanded in the field of industrial process analysis and control, environmental monitoring, biological/biochemical analysis and high-throughput screening in the medical/pharmaceutical field. Advanced mid-infrared sensor systems and integrated scanning probe sensors, contribute to the most recent trends in sensor technology: (i) arrayed information; (ii) microfabrication technologies for sensor miniaturization; (iii) improved selectivity; and (iv) novel application areas. Based on an integral approach for the development of novel sensor technologies the first application of quantum cascade lasers in an IR sensor format has been demonstrated, facilitated by microfabrication technologies. With the introduction of molecularly imprinted polymers as biomimetic sensing layer for specific analyte recognition in combination with evanescent field infrared spectroscopy, a novel concept utilizing orthogonal information from a selective membrane and an inherently selective transducer has been introduced.

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