Abstract: The invention provides hydrogen selective metal-insulator-semiconductor sensors which include a layer of hydrogen selective material. The hydrogen selective material can be polyimide layer having a thickness between 200 and 800 nm. Suitable polyimide materials include reaction products of benzophenone tetracarboxylic dianhydride 4,4-oxydianiline m-phenylene diamine and other structurally similar materials.

Abstract: The invention relates to novel sensors of the catalytic gas-sensing thin-film metal surface type wherein the surface has an inorganic protective membrane coating formed by a pulsed dc sputtering technique. Preferably, the thin-film metal surface is a Pd, Pt, Ni, Au, Ag or an alloy thereof. The inorganic membrane is of the formula MaObNcCd where M is a metal or semiconductor, O is oxygen, N is nitrogen, and C is carbon and a, b, c, and d can each independently range from zero to seven with the proviso that at least two of a, b, c, and d are non-zero. The sensor design is particularly useful for various hydrogen sensing applications. The invention also includes their method of manufacture.