| abstract |
Sensor for substance detection (including hydrocarbons) consisting of an integrated optical interferometer (Mach-Zehnder interferometer) with a measuring arm (11) and a comparison arm (12) in a waveguide substrate, with the waveguide in the area of the measuring arm (11) as a superstrate (111) a polymer, e.g. Polysiloxane is applied, which can be penetrated by the substance to be detected.n n n Swelling behavior, gas absorption, refractive index of the polymer, doping with chromophores or fluorophores, layer thickness and length can be adapted for a substance-selective behavior. Interferometers arranged in parallel on a chip with different superstrates and polychrome measurements in conjunction with methods of pattern recognition are further selection means. |