The Industrial Sensor Systems department covers different themes of integrated sensors and actuators comprising in-house design, simulation, fabrication and characterisation. The members of the department can be found under the People web link. The ISS department is a part of the Institute of Sensor and Actuator Systems (ISAS) of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. We are also a member of the Technology Institute of the TU Vienna: the "Center for Micro- and Nanostructures" (ZMNS).

Research

The research of the department focuses on systems for physical chemosensing and biosensing, a method for obtaining chemical and biochemical information from a fluid or organic material by using primarily physical detection methods. Transduction effects from the mechanical, radiant, magnetic, thermal and electrical energy domains are studied and applied. Application areas are on-chip analysis systems (e.g. biochips) but also bulk fluids (e.g. car fluids). We investigate microfluidics for the realisation of those fluid sensing/analysis devices. Other major topics are MEMS devices such as integrated magnetic-field sensors, flow sensors and IR sensors.

Key-words: physical chemosensing, biochips, MEMS devices, microfluidics, micro and nanotechnology.

Please refer to our Research web link.

Teaching

Our teaching concerns Sensors in general, Microsystems Technology, Sensors and Packaging, and Seminars on Sensors and Industrial Electronics (topics Biochips, Sensor signal processing, Semiconductor sensors, and Environmental monitoring). For further information see our Teaching web link.

Technology

The sensor-technology clean room at the Gusshausstrasse (100 m2), which was opened in 2002 provides us with attractive opportunities for the design and realisation of silicon, glass, and CaF2 based sensors and actuators. With our space within the Center for Micro- and Nanostructures (ZMNS) and our thin-film lab, we now have more than 250 m2 of 'sensor technology lab space' available. In addition to standard photolithography we have the disposal of thick resist lithography, back-side alignment, wet and dry (deep) etching techniques, dielectric and metal thin film deposition, wafer to wafer bonding, and spray coating. A low-stress nitride depositer (ICP-PECVD) has recently been purchased. Details can be found under Technology.

Co-operations

In many of our research projects we co-operate with other universities, institutes and industry:

Industry:

AC2T Research GmbH (K+, Wr. Neustadt, A)

AIT GmbH (Business Unit Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna, AT)

CTR (K1, Villach, AT)

EVG (Schärding, AT)

IMA (K-ind Integrated Microsystems Austria, Wiener Neustadt, A)

Xensor Integration BV (Delft, The Netherlands)

Institutes:

Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Integrated Sensor Systems (Wiener Neustadt, AT)

ESG-Institut für Lithographieforschung (Vienna, AT)

Institute of Informatics, Slovak Academy of Sciences (Bratislava)

Universities:

Delft University of Technology, Electronic Instrumentation Lab, DIMES (the Netherlands)

Delft University of Technology, Analytical Biotechnology (the Netherlands)

University of Freiburg, Institute for Microsystem Technology (Germany)

Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg, measurement technology and sensor systems(Germany)

University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Center for Nanobiotechnology (Austria)

Warsaw University of Technology, Institute of Electronic Systems, Sensor Research Group (Poland)

ETH-Zürich, Basel, D-BSSE (Switzerland)