Research involves the integration of solid-state sensors with high-performance integrated circuits (integrated sensors). Research areas include developing semiconductor processing techniques in the fabrication of microminiature sensor structures. Integrated sensor structures and devices under study and planned for next year include multifunctional sensor chips which will be based primarily on silicon technology but preliminary studies of compound semiconductors such as gallium arsenide and mercury cadmium telluride will be considered for the integrated sensor application. Sensor studies in this work will focus on materials, devices, and circuits for 1) air flow measurement, 2) measurement of acceleration, 3) detection of chemical heat-of- reaction, 4) magnetic field sensing, and 5) chemical vapor sensing. Many of the above sensors will be based on the compatible incorporation of piezoelectric and pyroelectric zinc oxide with silicon MOS technology.
