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Abstract

A chemical sensor matrix is provided for sensing the presence of chemical agents by chemo-electronic means. The chemical sensor matrix is comprised of a plurality of resonators embedded in a single monolithic piece of piezoelectric crystal. The resonators are arranged in rectangular row and column configuration including m rows and n columns, each of the resonators being separated from its neighboring resonators by distances such that the resonant energies do not overlap. Each of the resonators is coated with a different chemical substance to be sensitive to a chemical agent to be detected so that when the chemical substance reacts with the chemical agent, the frequency f.sub.mn changes. Each of the rows of resonators bears a metallic electrode stripe for that row, and each of said columns of resonators bears a metallic stripe for that column. The electrode row stripes are positioned on the top surface of the crystal, and the electrode column stripes are positioned on the bottom surface of the crystal. The areas of overlap of said row and column stripes are registered with the central portions of the embedded resonators. Two diode arrays are positioned on the periphery of the crystal for addressing the individual row electrode stripes and the individual column electrode stripes so that the desired resonator can be activated by connecting the stripe corresponding to its row address and the stripe corresponding to its column address to suitable active oscillator circuitry and signal processing means. The resonators f.sub.mn can then be interrogated sequentially and frequency change registered.

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First Claim