A tiny 1 mm2 silicon chip with four SOI CMOS micro-hotplates for low-cost, low-power multi-component gas sensing (see www.ccmoss.com).

2 May 2012

Spin out company Cambridge CMOS Sensors (CCS) has joined a major European project to develop innovative high-temperature gas sensors that will help reduce energy consumption and waste.

The project, called SOI-HITS (Smart Silicon-on-Insulator Sensing Systems Operating at High Temperature) is funded by the EU and involves eight partner organisations from industry and academia, including the University of Warwick (led by Professor Julian Gardner, School of Engineering).

The devices being developed will help reduce carbon emissions and produce significant savings in energy consumption in the domestic boiler industry.

Key to the project are built-in electronic interfaces that will enable the sensors to work in harsh high-temperature environments. The current operating limit of a conventional sensor is 125 degrees Celsius and the consortium will develop sensors with the ability to function in temperatures up to 225 degrees Celsius.

This means the control sensing elements can be moved into the harsh areas not normally accessible to conventional electronics, and the number of sensors available for control can be increased.

CCS will be involved in designing and fabricating micro-hotplate devices which will be used as a platform for developing gas and other sensors within the project.

The company was launched in 2008 as a spin-out from research carried out by Professor Julian Gardner at the University of Warwick School of Engineering and Professor Florin Udrea at the University of Cambridge.

Other partners involved in the project include Microsemi, Honeywell Romania, Cissoid, IREC, and the Université Catholique de Louvain.

The European Union’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7 ICT) is funding the majority of the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of August 2014.

Read more about the project.