Vapor Trace Recognition Using a Single Nonspecific Chemiresistor

An application of spectral analysis to the transient response signals of ALD-fabricated conductometric sensors (chemiresistors) upon exposure to short vapor pulses is discussed. It is based on the representation of a response curve in the frequency domain, followed by the multi-dimensional Quadratic Discriminant Analysis (QDA) for analyte identification. Compared to the standard steady-state amplitude analysis, this technique does not depend on a short-term sensor drift, does not have limitations for the number of extracted features and has a strict physical validation. Effective recognition of some relatively simple combustible analytes (acetone, toluene, ethanol) was demonstrated using a single nonspecific chemiresistor.