Gas Sensor MEMS Fabrication Patents: Leaders & Filing Trends 2026
- 524 families, one dominant subclass. G01N material-analysis claims account for 436 of 524 families — the sensing-material layer is far more contested than the MEMS structure beneath it.
- Filings peaked in 2019 at 69, then declined. By the 2022 midpoint activity had fallen back to 23, and several previously active assignees show zero filings in the latest year.
- MEMS-specific claims stay thin. B81B, the subclass most specific to microstructural devices, holds only 22 records — structural micromachining is less contested than the chemistry layered on top of it.
Filing growth compares 2021 (17 records) with 2024 (5) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 524 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this patent landscape covers
This dataset tracks 524 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine gas-sensing claims with MEMS fabrication elements — micro-hotplates, suspended membranes and related thermally isolated structures. The search spans both the sensing mechanism (chemiresistive, catalytic, optical) and the fabrication approach, which is why the IPC composition is dominated by G01N material-analysis claims rather than by the microstructural subclass, B81B, that names MEMS devices directly.
Filing activity across the window rose to a peak in 2019 and has since declined, with the most recent year understated by normal publication lag of roughly 18 months. Receiving-office data shows the bulk of activity filed through the United States, EPO and PCT routes, with smaller but consistent volumes in Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom.
Filing trend and technology composition
The filing curve and the IPC breakdown together show where drafting effort has actually gone since 2015, and where it has stayed thin.
Filings peaked in 2019, then declined
Filings ran from 23 in 2017 to a peak of 69 in 2019, before settling near the 2022 midpoint of 23 and falling further into the most recent, still-partial year. That shape is consistent with a technology whose core claim space filled quickly rather than one still accelerating.
G01N dominates; MEMS-specific subclasses stay thin
G01N (material analysis and testing) accounts for 436 of the 524 families, with H05B heating circuits a distant second at 63. B81B, the subclass most specific to MEMS microstructures, holds only 22 records — a sign that structural micromachining claims are far less contested than the sensing-material claims layered on top of them.
Shares are the percentage of the 524 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Gas Sensor MEMS Fabrication with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about gas sensor mems fabrication and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative and most-cited records
US7370511B1 — Gas sensor with attenuated drift characteristic
A sensor with an attenuated drift characteristic, including a layer structure in which a sensing layer has a layer of diffusional barrier material on at least one of its faces. The design is illustrated as a hydrogen gas sensor with a palladium/yttrium layer structure on a micro-hotplate base, using a chromium barrier layer and a tantalum barrier layer around the sensing structure, achieving substantial reduction of signal drift.Filed by Life Safety Germany GmbH; granted 2008-05-13.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US7080545B2 | Apparatus and process for sensing fluoro species in semiconductor processing systems | 495 |
| 2 | US7296460B2 | Apparatus and process for sensing fluoro species in semiconductor processing systems | 480 |
| 3 | US7475588B2 | Apparatus and process for sensing fluoro species in semiconductor processing systems | 477 |
| 4 | US5345213A | Temperature-controlled, micromachined arrays for chemical sensor fabrication and operation | 182 |
| 5 | US6596236B2 | Micro-machined thin film sensor arrays for the detection of H2 containing gases, and method of making and usi… | 141 |
| 6 | US6265222B1 | Micro-machined thin film hydrogen gas sensor, and method of making and using the same | 131 |
| 7 | US20060154401A1 | Gas-sensing semiconductor devices | 113 |
| 8 | US6091050A | Thermal microplatform | 95 |
| 9 | US20120267532A1 | IR emitter and NDIR sensor | 89 |
| 10 | US6914220B2 | Microelectromechanical heating apparatus and fluid preconcentrator device utilizing same | 87 |
Citation counts are drawn from documents inside this searched corpus and skew toward older, foundational filings; treat them as a measure of influence within this set, not of current filing activity.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the filing pattern signals
Three figures from this dataset matter more than the raw family count: where the IPC weight sits, how filing momentum has moved, and how citation weight concentrates in older art.
Sensing chemistry, not structure, carries the claim density
G01N (material analysis and testing) accounts for 83% of the tracked families. H05B heating circuits and B81B MEMS structures trail far behind, at 63 and 22 respectively, which means most drafting effort has gone into the sensing material and its readout rather than the hotplate or membrane fabrication process itself.
Activity has cooled since 2019
Filings rose to a peak of 69 in 2019, fell back to 23 by 2022, and sit at 2 in the most recent partial year. Publication lag of roughly 18 months means the last year or two will always look lighter than it eventually proves to be, but the multi-year decline predates that effect.
Influence sits with the oldest records
The most-cited documents in this corpus, including the fluoro-species sensing family cited 495 times and the micro-hotplate array patent cited 182 times, are among the oldest in the set. High citation counts here reflect age and foundational status inside this search, not that these mechanisms are still the most active area of filing.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to gas sensor mems fabrication, with the prior art for and against each one.
Assignees and where activity has gone quiet
Recent-year momentum matters more than total family count here: several assignees with substantial historical filings show no activity in the latest year, which changes how a competitive map should be read.
Historical leaders have gone quiet
Alpha MOS, MSA Technology, AMS Sensors UK, Cambridge CMOS Sensors and Sensirion all show zero filings in the most recent year, with MSA Technology recording a -100% year-over-year change. That does not mean these firms have exited the field, but it does mean a snapshot of total filings alone would overstate their current activity.
The strongest co-filing pair is academic-industrial
The densest co-assignee relationship in this set pairs Alpha MOS with the French national research centre CNRS across 15 families, well ahead of the next-strongest pairs at 5 each. That points to a sustained joint development programme rather than a one-off collaboration.
Filing strategy leans US and European
The United States receives the largest single share of filings, followed by the European Patent Office and the PCT route, with Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom each contributing smaller but non-trivial volumes. That spread suggests applicants are pursuing multi-jurisdiction protection rather than concentrating on a single home market.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Technology Materials, Inc. | 0 | — |
| MSA Technology, LLC | 0 | -100% |
| AMS Sensors UK Limited | 0 | — |
| ALPHA MOS | 0 | — |
| Cambridge CMOS Sensors Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Sensirion AG | 0 | — |
| Soxience Private Limited | 0 | — |
| Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis next
The filing and IPC data point to specific follow-up checks rather than a single conclusion.
Run a freedom-to-operate check on the thin IPC branches
A01K, G01J and G08B all carry far fewer families than the G01N core. Before drafting in livestock-wearable, optical-hybrid or alarm-integration variants, confirm whether the low count reflects genuinely open space or simply narrower search terms.
Check claim scope in EurekaVerify current assignee activity, not just historical totals
Several assignees with large historical family counts show zero filings in the latest year. Any competitive map should be built on recent-year momentum alongside total counts.
Review assignee momentum in EurekaTrace the citation chain from the top-cited families
The fluoro-species sensing family and the micro-hotplate array patent anchor much of the downstream citation network. Understanding what cites them clarifies which later filings are true design-arounds versus incremental extensions.
Trace citations in EurekaFrequently asked questions
A micro-hotplate gas sensor uses a micromachined, thermally isolated platform to heat a sensing material to its optimal operating temperature while keeping power draw low, which is why it shows up heavily in the H05B heating-circuit and G01N material-analysis subclasses in this dataset. Its dominance in the filing record reflects how central temperature control is to chemiresistive sensing performance, not that the underlying MEMS structure itself is heavily claimed. Most of the patent density sits in the sensing-material and heating-control layers built on top of the hotplate, rather than in the hotplate fabrication process itself.
The recent-year momentum data shows several previously active assignees, including Alpha MOS, MSA Technology, AMS Sensors UK and Cambridge CMOS Sensors, all recording zero filings in the latest year, several with year-over-year declines of 100%. That pattern indicates a filing landscape where earlier leaders have gone quiet rather than one with a currently accelerating leader, so a ranking snapshot from an earlier year would look different from the picture today. Anyone tracking this space should check filing recency alongside total family counts before assuming current market position.
Filing activity peaked in 2019 at 69 records and has trended down since, sitting at 23 by the 2022 midpoint and falling further into the most recent partial year. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the last one to two years understate true activity, but the overall trajectory across the window is flat to declining rather than growing. This suggests the core claim space for established micro-hotplate and membrane sensor designs is largely staked out, with new activity more likely to appear in adjacent, thinner IPC branches.
US7370511B1 covers a specific layer structure for reducing signal drift in a gas sensor, built on a micro-hotplate base with a sensing layer, a diffusional barrier layer, and named barrier materials such as chromium and tantalum around a palladium/yttrium sensing structure. It does not block micro-hotplate gas sensing generally; it blocks that particular barrier-layer sequence and material combination for drift attenuation. Designs using different barrier chemistries or a different layer order can plausibly sit outside its literal claims, though a full freedom-to-operate check should look at any continuation or citing families as well.
The thinnest IPC branches relative to the 436-record G01N core are A01K (animal husbandry and fishing applications, 16 records) and G01J (radiation and light measurement, 20 records), with G08B (alarm and signalling integration) also comparatively light at 23. These gaps suggest less contested claim space around application-specific integration — wearable sensors for livestock monitoring, or gas sensors combined with optical measurement stages — rather than around the core sensing chemistry itself. A thin IPC count is not proof an area is unclaimed, but it is a reasonable signal of where a first-filer would face fewer blocking references.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.