Tech Briefs Magazine - February 2021 - 25

Chemical Identification by Magneto-Elastic Sensing (ChIMES)
The sensor is suitable for both overt and covert applications, and can detect multiple and
variable targets.
Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

low-cost sensor technology, called Chemical Identification
by Magneto-Elastic Sensing (ChIMES), uses target response
materials (TRMs) as actuators in magneto-elastic (M-E) sensors
(Figure 1).
TRMs can come from many classes of chemical and biochemical compounds, with many degrees of selectivity. TRMs
with strong affinities for specific targets can be used individually, while TRMs with distributed selectivity can be formed into
arrays with an artificial neural network or other artificial-intelligence-based tools used for analysis and interpretation. The
magneto-elastic components are amorphous ferromagnetic
alloys with high permeability and very low coercivity. When a
TRM encounters a target, it imposes forces that change the
magnetic properties of the alloy in ways that can be detected
with an excitation-detection coil set.
ChIMES includes a ferromagnetic metal and a molecular
recognition reagent coupled to the ferromagnetic metal. The
molecular recognition reagent is operable to expand upon

Figure 1. Conceptual drawing of the Chemical Identification by MagnetoElastic Sensing (ChIMES) sensor.

exposure to vapor or liquid from the target material such that
the molecular recognition reagent changes a tensile stress upon
the ferromagnetic metal. The target material is detected based
on changes in the magnetic switching characteristics of the ferromagnetic metal caused by the changes in the tensile stress.
The sensor can detect anything for which TRMs can be identified or developed. It is capable of untethered communication
through a nonmetallic or thin metallic barrier. ChIMES can be
miniaturized, and is energy-efficient enough for power with
onboard batteries. Shape, size, and appearance can be tailored
to a specific need. ChIMES is suitable for both overt and covert
applications, and can detect multiple and variable targets
simultaneously with modular TRMs. The sensor is much less
expensive than techniques such as gas chromatography.
Applications for ChIMES include explosives or taggants;
chemical and biological warfare agents and precursors or
byproducts of their manufacture; exhaled gas constituents for
health diagnostics and drug detection; toxic industrial chemicals
and materials; food freshness and safety; volatile organic compounds; and other airborne and waterborne pollutants.
For more information, contact the Office of Technology
Commercialization at OTCP@y12.doe.gov; 855-545-TECH.

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Figure 2. A four-TRM array.

Tech Briefs, February 2021

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Tech Briefs Magazine - February 2021

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