The NATO Advanced Study Institute on ¿Sensors for Environment, Health and Security: Advanced Materials and Technology¿ was held in Vichy (France) on September 16¿27, 2007 where more than 65 participants, ranging from Ph. D. students to experienced senior scientists, met and exchanged ideas and know-how in a friendly atmosphere. The present book intends to cover the main topics of this NATO ASI through 32 chapters distributed over two parts (Part I: ¿Materials and Technologies¿ and Part II: ¿Applications to Environment, Health and Security¿). The scientific programme of the NATO ASI consisted in 28 1-hour lectures given by 14 invited lecturers, 5 additional 1-hour lectures given by seminar speakers, 22 oral presentations by selected ASI participants and a poster session. The programme was divided into four sessions: (1) Advanced materials and technologies; (2) Sensors for environment; (3) Sensors for health; (4) Sensors for security. During the ¿Advanced Materials and Technologies¿ session (Part I of the present book), the lectures were dedicated to critical analyses of current methods for the synthesis of materials, nanomaterials (nanoparticles, nanowires, nanotubes, ¿) and nanocomposites to be used for the fabrication of sensing devices, mainly semiconductor sensors. Among the synthesis methods, chemical (sol-gel, etc. ) and physical methods (laser deposition, DC magnetron sputtering, etc. ) were discussed. Several lectures addressed characterization techniques and it was concluded that the physical and chemical control of the materials/nanomaterials, including surface chemistry, remains a key issue for the reproducibility of the final device.

Materials and Technologies.- Metal Oxide Nanocomposites: Synthesis and Characterization in Relation with Gas Sensing Phenomena.- Spectroscopic Study of the Gas Detection Mechanism by Semiconductor Chemical Sensors.- Material Growth and Fundamental Material Characterization Techniques.- Mesoporous Indium Oxide for Gas Sensor Applications.- Synthesis and Examination of Hexagonal Tungsten Oxide Nanocrystals for Electrochromic and Sensing Applications.- Tin Oxide from Organo-Metallic Compounds: Material'S Properties and Sensor Characteristics.- Defect Chemistry of Sensor Materials.- Light-Induced Generation of Singlet Oxygen in Porous Silicon.- Selectivity Improvement of Semiconductor Gas Sensors by Filters.- Systems and Set-ups for Effective Sensing Response Applications.- Carbon Composite Electrodes Applied for Electrochemical Sensors.- Photonic Sensors for Health and Environmental Monitoring.- Sensors Based on Technology "Nano-on-Micro" for Wireless Instruments Preventing Ecological and Industrial Catastrophes.- Development of a Parallel-Computing Embedded Telemetry System for Voltammetric Microsensor and Biosensor Applications.- Inductively Coupled Telemetry.- Applications to Environment, Health and Security.- Biosensors.- Bacteria Detection - Biosensors.- Surface Chemistry to Bridge Inorganic Biosensor Surfaces and Biological Materials.- Singlet Oxygen Generation and Detection for Biomedical Applications.- Response of Nerve Cell to Inhibitor Recorded by Aluminium-Gallium-Nitride FET.- Microelectronics-Based Biosensors for the Detection of Proteins and Nucleic Acids.- Bionano-Microbiology.- Optical Sensors for Carbon Dioxide and Their Applications.- Oxygen Indicators in Food Packaging.- Sensory Conversion Devices.- Development of Biological Sensors Based onScreen-Printed Electrodes for Environmental Pollution Monitoring.- Development of Flow Immunosensors for Organic Pollutants.- Sensors for Monitoring Air Quality in Earth and Space Environments.- Determination of the Mutagenic Effects of Pollution by AMES and Neural Networks.- Polyaniline-Based Environmental Gas Sensors.- Sensor Science for National Security.- Radiation and Nuclear Materials Detection Research and Development at ORNL.