Laboratory of Sensor Technologies

Research grants

• Materials for Intelligent Light Enhanced Gas Sensors (2025−2027), Mobilitas 3.0 incoming postdoctoral grant MOB3JD1251, PI Jaroslav Otta
• Early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases with electronic nose technology (2024−2028), Temaatilised teadus- ja arendusprogrammid (TEM-TA) project TEM-TA110, PI Raivo Jaaniso
• Development of air quality sensor prototype (2024−2025), TÜ eksperimentaalarenduse toetus, PI Valter Kiisk
• Characterization of graphene-based gas sensors (2022−2023), "Other non-Estonian private sector" projects VLTFY22174 and VLTFY23252, PI Raivo Jaaniso
• Selection of timber weight sensors (weighing logic) and integration into software, "Estonian private enterprises" project LLTFY22126, PI Raivo Jaaniso
• Novel structures and signal processing methods for gas microsensor arrays based on 2D materials (2022−2026), Personal Research Funding Team grant PRG1580, PI Raivo Jaaniso
• Inverse design methods for integrating nanophotonic structures with gas sensors (2022−2025), Personal Research Funding Start-up grant PSG716, PI Taavi Repän
• Graphene Flagship Core Project 3 (2020−2023), Horizon 2020 project MLTFY20220R, PI Raivo Jaaniso
• Application of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and GPS/GNSS for automation of outdoor warehouse (2020−2022), "Smart specialization" project LLTFY20500, PI Raivo Jaaniso
• The role of phonons and the exciton reservoir in the energy transfer of strongly coupled excitonic systems for low threshold laserlike light sources (2020−2023), Personal Research Funding Start-up grant PSG406, PI Siim Pikker

Selected publications

• Paniz Vafaei, Martin Lind, Valter Kiisk, Tauno Kahro, Ahmet Burak Baloglu, Margus Kodu, Riho Raabe, Aarne Kasikov, Arvo Kikas, Jekaterina Kozlova, Raivo Jaaniso, High-Performance Graphene-Based Gas Sensors with Pulsed Heating and AI Processing, Adv. Sensor Res. 2025, e00083.
• Peter G Steeneken, Miika Soikkeli, Sanna Arpiainen, Arto Rantala, Raivo Jaaniso, Roberto Pezone, Sten Vollebregt, Sebastian Lukas, Satender Kataria, Maurits J A Houmes, Towards wafer-scale 2D material sensors, 2D Mater. 12 (2025), 023002.
• Joris More-Chevalier, Jiří Martan, Taavi Repän, Sylvain Duprey, Petr Hruška, Michal Novotný, Petra Honnerová, Jan Kejzlar, Christophe Labbé, Morgane Poupon, Dejan Prokop, Daniil Nikitin, Xavier Portier, Přemysl Fitl, Julien Cardin, Raivo Jaaniso, Ján Lančok, Spectral Emissivity and Thermal Conductivity Properties of Black Aluminum Films, Langmuir 41 (2025), 3832−3842.
• Paniz Vafaei, Margus Kodu, Harry Alles, Valter Kiisk, Olga Casals, Joan Daniel Prades, Raivo Jaaniso, Graphene/TiO₂ Heterostructure Integrated with a Micro-Lightplate for Low-Power NO₂ Gas Detection, Sensors 25 (2025), 382.
• Ahmet Burak Baloglu, Margus Kodu, Jekaterina Kozlova, Tauno Kahro, Raivo Jaaniso, Graphene-mediated blister-based laser-induced forward transfer of thin and ultra-thin ZrO₂, Appl. Phys. A 130 (2024), 743.
• Artjom Berholts, Margus Kodu, Pavel Rubin, Tauno Kahro, Harry Alles, Raivo Jaaniso, Layered Heterostructure of Graphene and TiO₂ as a Highly Sensitive and Stable Photoassisted NO₂ Sensor, ACS Appl. Mater. Interf. 16 (2024), 43827−43837.
• Raivis Eglitis, Valter Kiisk, Margus Kodu, Martins Vanags, Raivo Jaaniso, Krisjanis Šmits, Andris Šutka, Light-Induced Room-Temperature Gas Sensing by Donor-Doped Anatase TiO₂ Ultrasmall Nanoparticles, ACS Appl. Eng. Mater. 2 (2024), 649−658.
• Sanni M. A. Färkkilä, Monika Mortimer, Raivo Jaaniso, Anne Kahru, Valter Kiisk, Jekaterina Kozlova, Imbi Kurvet, Uno Mäeorg, Maarja Otsus, Kaja Kasemets, Comparison of Toxicity and Cellular Uptake of CdSe/ZnS and Carbon Quantum Dots for Molecular Tracking Using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a Fungal Model, Nanomaterials 14 (2024), 10.
• Margus Kodu, Rainer Pärna, Tea Avarmaa, Indrek Renge, Jekaterina Kozlova, Tauno Kahro, Raivo Jaaniso, Gas-Sensing Properties of Graphene Functionalized with Ternary Cu-Mn Oxides for E-Nose Applications, Chemosensors 11 (2023), 460.
• Valter Kiisk, Michal Novotny, Margus Kodu, Siim Pikker, Tea Avarmaa, Jan Remsa, Jan Lancok, Martin Vrnata, Raivo Jaaniso, Pulsed Laser Annealed Rare Earth Doped TiO₂ Thin Films for Luminescence and Sensing Applications, Applied Surface Science 637 (2023), 157884.
• Valter Kiisk, Margus Kodu, Siim Pikker, Tea Avarmaa, Raivo Jaaniso, Oxygen-Sensitive Luminescence of Ultrathin CdWO₄:Sm³⁺ Films, Optical Materials 128 (2022), 11238.
• Martin Lind, Valter Kiisk, Margus Kodu, Tauno Kahro, Indrek Renge, Tea Avarmaa, Prashanth Makaram, Amaia Zurutuza, Raivo Jaaniso, Semiquantitative Classification of Two Oxidizing Gases with Graphene-Based Gas Sensors, Chemosensors 10 (2022), 68.
• Marius Rodner, Adam Icardi, Margus Kodu, Raivo Jaaniso, Andreas Schütze, Jens Eriksson, Metal Oxide Nanolayer-Decorated Epitaxial Graphene: A Gas Sensor Study, Nanomaterials 10 (2020), 2168.
• Valter Kiisk, Raivo Jaaniso, Rare earth–doped oxide materials for photoluminescence-based gas sensors, in: Raivo Jaaniso and Ooi Kiang Tan (Eds.), Semiconductor Gas Sensors, 2nd Edition (2019), pp. 271–305.
• Margus Kodu, Artjom Berholts, Tauno Kahro, Jens Eriksson, Rositsa Yakimova, Tea Avarmaa, Indrek Renge, Harry Alles, Raivo Jaaniso, Graphene-Based Ammonia Sensors Functionalised with Sub-Monolayer V₂O₅: A Comparative Study of Chemical Vapour Deposited and Epitaxial Graphene, Sensors 19 (2019) 951
• Valter Kiisk, Kristiina Akulitš, Margus Kodu, Tea Avarmaa, Hugo Mändar, Jelena Kozlova, Marko Eltermann, Laurits Puust, Raivo Jaaniso, Oxygen-Sensitive Photoluminescence of Rare Earth Ions in TiO₂ Thin Films, J. Phys. Chem. C 123 (2019) 17908.

Recent invited and oral talks

• Paniz Vafaei, Graphene-based MEMS gas sensors for low-power NO₂ detection, Graphene Week 2024, Prague, Czech Republic, October 14–18, 2024.
• Margus Kodu, Selective detection of toxic gases by arrays of single layer graphene sensors functionalized with nanolayers of different oxides, Eurosensors XXXV, Lecce, Italy, September 10–13, 2023.
• Raivo Jaaniso, Graphene in gas sensors (invited), Innovation Workshop for Electronics and 2D-EPL, IMEC, Leuven, Belgium, March 8–9. 2023.
• Raivo Jaaniso, Graphene-based materials for E2-nose (invited), Graphene Flagship Divison II symposium, Rome, Italy, April 26–28, 2023.
• Raivo Jaaniso, Designing oxide-on-graphene structures for smart gas sensors, Graphene Week, Munich, Germany, September 5-9, 2022.
• Raivo Jaaniso, Graphene-based sensors for environmental monitoring (invited), FM&NT – NIBS 2022, Riga, Latvia, July 4–6, 2022.

Equipment

Setup for electrical and optical gas sensor characterization. The computer-controlled measurement complex includes gas mixing stations (based on Brooks mass flow controllers), Keithley sourcemeters for electrical measurements and an optical spectrometer for optical measurements. Micro-probe stations Nextron 8CMPS-CHL and Instec HCP421V-PMH are available (the latter enabling Hall effect measurements in controlled environment). Available special gases include O₃, NO₂, CO, CO₂, NH₃, H₂S, SO₂, acetone and ethanol (ppb-to-ppm range), which can be tested in the background of Ar, N₂, O₂, or their arbitrary mixtures with the relative humidity between 0 and 90%. The majority of test gases are 5N purity and fed from cylinders or permeation tubes; ozone is generated before mixing.

Image

Setup for pulsed laser deposition of thin films includes two UHV deposition chambers, UV excimer laser (Coherent COMPexPro 205,
wavelength 248 nm), and equipment for in-situ process monitoring (Woollam M2000x spectroscopic ellipsometer, Andor Echelle spectrograph for plasma spectroscopy).