A first step towards a microfabricated potentiometric thin-film sensor array for the simultaneous detection of Pb 2+ , Cd 2+ and Cu 2+ has been realized. The sensitive layers used are on the basis of chalcogenide glass materials. These thin-film chalcogenide glass materials that consist of mixtures of Pb-Ag-As-I-S, Cd-Ag-As-I-S or Cu-Ag-As-Se have been prepared by pulsed laser deposition technique. The developed sensor array has been physically characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. The electrochemical sensor characterization has been performend by potentiometric measurements.