Ion-selective Electrode Made with LTCC (low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramics) Technology

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on development and electrical characterization of miniature ion-selective electrode (ISE) for application in micro total analysis system or lab-on-chip devices. The presented ISE is made using low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC). It shows possibility of integration chemically sensitive layers with structures fabricated using modern microelectronic technology. Design/methodology/approach – The presented ISEs were fabricated using LTCC microelectronic technology. The possibility of ISE fabrication on multilayer ceramic substrate made of two different LTCC material systems (CeramTec GC, Du Pont 951) with deposited thick-film silver pad is studied. Different configurations of LTCC/silver pad (surface, embedded) are taken into account. Electrical performance of all LTCC-based structures with integrated ISE was examined experimentally. Findings – The preliminary measurements made for ammonium ions have shown good repeatability and linear response with slope of about 30-35 mV/dec. Moreover, no significant impact of the LTCC material system and silver pad configuration on fabricated ISEs’ electrical properties was noticed. Research limitations/implications – The presented research is a preliminary work. The authors focused on ISE fabrication on LTCC substrates without any microfluidic structures. Therefore, further research work will be needed to evolve ion-selective membrane deposition inside microfluidic structures made in LTCC substrates. Practical implications – Development of the LTCC-based ISE makes the fabrication of detection units for integrated microfluidic systems possible. These devices can find practical applications in analytical diagnosis and continuous monitoring of various biochemical parameters. Originality/value – This paper shows design, fabrication and performance of the novel ISE fabrication using LTCC technology.