Gas sensing devices, systems, and associated methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10168239-B2
Application number	US-201414582954-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 24, 2014
Priority date	Dec 24, 2014
Publication date	Jan 1, 2019
Grant date	Jan 1, 2019

Abstract

A gas sensing device is provided including an enclosure having an internal chamber operable to receive and contain at least one test gas, a photonic heat source positioned to deliver photonic energy into the internal chamber, and a pressure sensor functionally coupled to the internal chamber and operable to detect a pressure change within the internal chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A gas sensing device, comprising:
an enclosure having an internal chamber operable to receive and contain at least one test gas;
a photonic heat source positioned to deliver wavelength or frequency modulated photonic energy into the internal chamber to create gas pressure modulations within the internal chamber by selectively stimulating an analyte in the test gas;
a pressure sensor monolithically fabricated on a substrate, the pressure sensor functionally coupled to the internal chamber and operable to detect the gas pressure modulations within the internal chamber;
at least one pump monolithically fabricated on the substrate, the at least one pump functionally coupled to the enclosure and operable to deliver the at least one test gas into the internal chamber;
an inlet channel monolithically fabricated on the substrate;
a deflection membrane monolithically fabricated on the substrate; and
the at least one pump including a displacement structure monolithically fabricated on the substrate to unidirectionally draw the at least one gas past the deflection membrane through the inlet channel and into the internal chamber.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the pressure sensor further comprises:
a deflection member functionally coupled to the internal chamber such that the gas pressure modulations within the internal chamber causes a movement of the deflection member; and
an interferometer positioned to detect movement of the deflection member.

3. The device of claim 2 , wherein the deflection member is either a cantilever member or a resilient layer.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the device has a MEMs-sized architecture.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the photonic heat source is tunable to be selective for a given test gas.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the photonic heat source is a laser diode or a UV-LED.

7. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a photonic energy modulator functionally coupled to the photonic heat source and operable to modulate the photonic energy.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the enclosure is transparent to the photonic energy.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the deflection membrane is:
an intake deflection membrane operable to deliver gas into the internal chamber.

10. A system for detecting a gas, comprising:
a gas sensing device of claim 1 ;
an analytic module functionally coupled to the pressure sensor and operable to determine a presence of a specific gas from an output of the pressure sensor; and
an indicator functionally coupled to the analytic module and operable to indicate the presence of the specific gas to a user.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the analytic module is operable to quantify the specific gas from the output of the pressure sensor.

12. The system of claim 10 , further comprising a quantification module operable to quantify the specific gas from the output of the pressure sensor.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the indicator generates an audible signal, a visual signal, or an electronic signal.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the indicator is a display screen.

15. The device of claim 1 , wherein the enclosure is monolithically fabricated on the substrate.

16. The device of claim 1 , wherein the enclosure is bonded to the substrate.

17. The device of claim 1 , wherein the deflection membrane is an outlet deflection membrane operable to remove gas from the internal chamber.

18. The device of claim 1 , wherein the device includes both an intake deflection membrane operable to deliver gas into the internal chamber and an outlet deflection membrane operable to remove gas from the internal chamber.

19. The device of claim 1 , wherein the photonic heat source is a laser.

20. The device of claim 1 , wherein the photonic heat source is operable to modulate the intensity of the photonic energy.

21. The device of claim 1 , wherein the photonic heat source is operable to modulate the amplitude of the photonic energy.

22. The device of claim 1 , wherein the photonic heat source is operable to modulate a property of the photonic energy to increase absorption by an analyte of interest.

23. The device of claim 1 , wherein the photonic heat source is operable to modulate a property of the photonic energy to maximize absorption by an analyte of interest.

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Al-Hemyari Kadhair

Classifications

• G01N21/1702 Primary

  with opto-acoustic detection, e.g. for gases or analysing solids · CPC title

• G01L7/026 Primary

  with optical transmitting or indicating means (G01L7/045, G01L7/065, G01L7/086, G01L7/106, G01L7/187 take precedence) · CPC title

• G01N2201/0221

  Portable; cableless; compact; hand-held · CPC title

• G01N2201/0691

  Modulated (not pulsed supply) · CPC title

• G01N33/0016

  by regulating a physical variable, e.g. pressure or temperature · CPC title