Performance Testing of a MOSFET Sensor

The use of safety sensors, which can reliably and accurately alert to the presence of hydrogen, will be an essential element in the transition to a hydrogen economy, and the satisfactory performance of such sensors must be assured. Our dedicated sensor testing facility has been constructed for the purpose of testing hydrogen sensors under a wide variety of conditions. We have previously established a test protocol for assessing the performance of such sensors, taking into account the range of conditions likely to be encountered in their service lifetime, as well as the stated requirements of car manufacturers. We have also previously assessed the performance of a range of sensor technologies. The work presented here is the result of tests carried out on a commercially available sensor based on MOSFET technology. MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor) devices are so called because they consist of field-effect transistors composed of a metal layer, an insulator layer (usually an oxide) and a semiconductor layer. Our measurements include accuracy of response, measuring range, cross sensitivity to CO, detection limit and the influence of ambient temperature, pressure and relative humidity. The results of these tests are presented here, and compared with those acquired for other sensor types, as a means of assessing the performance of this type of technology in the detection of hydrogen for safety applications.

BLACK Grainne;  BRETT Lois;  MORETTO Pietro;  BOUSEK Jaroslav; 

2010-09-20

Energy Agency NRW

JRC58299