The Fundamentals of Sensor Technologies group has has pioneered a new class of device with generic measurement capability, the Electric Potential Sensor (EPS), which has been licensed to our industrial partner Plessey Semiconductors and is now being marketed as an integrated circuit device. Electric Potential Sensors may be regarded, for most purposes, as near perfect voltmeters with almost infinite input impedance.

The technology is unique to Sussex, was invented here and is patented worldwide. The technology has been licensed and the first generation of sensors is now available commercially. Our fundamental research concentrates on understanding the measurement process at the extremes of high impedance and low capacitance, devising novel measurement scenarios and applying these to a range of practical demonstrators.

The Sensor Technology Research Centre is a very active research group with three full time faculty members, technical support, research fellows and postgraduate students. We are funded by a variety of sources with a mixture of EPSRC, other government agencies and industry. The Centre maintains a high profile in the academic research community and publishes regularly in highly rated journals. Our research has been featured in recent reports by both the EPSRC and RCUK.

Many of our research projects are multi-disciplinary and involve collaborative partners from other disciplines and institutions. We believe that working closely with industry, government organisations and user groups ensures that our research directions remain relevant in a rapidly changing economic and political environment.

The applications of the EPS include:

• Forensics
• Structural Health Monitoring
• Electrophysiology (ExG)
• Semiconductor Imaging
• Security