Sensors: A Comprehensive Survey

This book can be divided into two parts. The first, consisting of sensor-relevant micro and nanotechnological aspects, deals with materials in nanotechnology and discusses future tendencies in this field. The development in this sensor field is highly influenced by the rapid progress in solid-state physics, new transducer technologies, materials research and the technological application of quantum effects. The book gives an account of this trend. It begins with non-IC and IC technologies, proceeds with acoustic-wave devices, high-temperature microsensors, integrated optical sensors and optical microsensors and ends with molecular sensors and nanotechnology. These selected aspects of sensor science describe the state of the art and, in part, the future trends in this field. Without doubt microsensors or nanosensors play, and will continue to play, an important role in many areas, e.g. in medicine, microreactors used in pharmacy and automotive applications, but as yet they represent only a relatively small part of the whole sensor family. Nevertheless the information on new technologies, new materials and new sensors is important for every researcher, engineer in industry and sensor user. The value of the first part of this book lies in the concentrated summary of this new sensor field. The second part of the book, consisting of chapters 12 to 18, presents information on the sensor market. It covers areas such as aerospace, process control, medicine, environmental monitoring, automotive control and manufacturing technology. Such information is not only meaningful for industry managers, but also for scientists dealing with sensor development and considering new sensor applications. This section of the book gives a different approach to the field - it does not deal only with micro and nanosensors and it is not written in a scientific manner. Presumably the reader of part one is not very often the reader of part two, and vice versa, but such an approach is welcome in the fast developing field of sensor research and application. This book, volume 8 of the Sensors series, is the continuation of a good tradition, namely the published volumes 1 to 7 of Sensors, which have been devoted to different types of sensors from the viewpoint of known principles, techniques and well tested materials. This volume goes beyond this frontier. It is warmly recommended to everyone working, or interested in, sensor research and applications.