Patent ID: 8390037

Claim:
A gas sensor comprising: at least one gas-sensitive, electrically conductive layer that has a surface region that is adapted to be brought into contact with a target gas and in which a work function is dependent on a concentration of the target gas in contact therewith; and at least one electrical potential sensor capacitively coupled to the surface region via an air gap, wherein the surface region is structured by recesses, wherein the gas-sensitive layer is electrically connected with a flat material element, wherein the material element is arranged on the gas-sensitive layer and one of the recesses or wherein one of the recesses is in the gas-sensitive layer and the material element is arranged under or in one of the recesses, wherein a material of the material element is different than a material of the gas-sensitive layer and comprises at least one metal and/or at least one metal-containing chemical compound, and wherein the structure formed by the surface region and the material element has at least two matching unit structure regions, which are adjacent laterally and each comprise one material element and a section of the surface region of the gas-sensitive layer.