Chemical Sensors

Nanotechnology can even be used to combat terrorism. Chips with chemical sensors can be deployed at any place and which will detect the small vapour given out by explosives. It works on a principle called EGFET (Extended Gate Field Effect Transistor). A transistor in a chip is exposed to some chemicals. Depending on how the chemicals behave at the gate of the transistor, the current through the transistor changes thus enabling a compact chemical detector.

The transistor gate is functionalised with an appropriate sensor film that is exposed to the environment and it can then detect the corresponding target materials like RDX.