High temperature semiconductor sensor for the detection of fluorine

The possibility of high temperature measurements up to 350/spl deg/C with a chemical semiconductor sensor for fluorine was proven using silicon carbide as the substrate. A structure SiC/SiO/sub 2//LaF/sub 3//Pt leads to results comparable to the silicon based sensor. The influence of temperature on the sensor behaviour is smaller than expected but the increased desorption rate improves the limit of detection. An impulse method using the initial slope of the response curve was shown to be advantageous.