JPS6336462B

To apply a measured quantity of air to the electrodes applied to a plate-like solid electrolyte body, which may be a chip on a carrier or may, itself, form the carrier, grooves, flutes, ducts, or depressions are formed in the carrier and/or a cover plate, the grooves terminating at an edge portion with access to the gas to be supplied, and having a size such that their clear height is preferably in the lower micron region, and a width, preferably under 1 mm, and particularly between 0.2 and 0.4 mm. The higher limits are applicable to apply, for example, air to a reference electrode, to apply ambient oxygen thereto; the lower limits are appropriate when operating the sensor as a polarographic sensor, in which the diffusion limited current, upon application of a bias voltage, is an analog measure of the oxygen concentration in the gas, and the gas supply to the electrode must be suitably controlled to prevent saturation conditions. The grooves may be formed, for example, by sandblasting or by applying insulating material in the form of posts, ridges, and the like, on the respective element, filling the space therebetween with a filler substance which, upon subsequent sintering, escapes, thus leaving the voids forming the grooves, depressions, and the like.