Physicists develop ultra-thin pressure sensors for sensitive textile
27 Sep '06
2 min read
Ferroelectret field-effect transistor on a flexible film
A team of Austrian physicists has recently developed ultra-thin pressure sensors that can also be processed into sensitive textiles. The breakthrough came with the arrival of technology for building up a sufficiently large electrical field in polymer foams.
This enabled thin-film transistors to switch in reaction to pressure. Possible applications arising from this project conducted by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) include ultra-thin microphones, pressure sensors for replacement skin, and interactive clothing.
Concepts such as flat and ultra-thin are the latest big thing in the electronics industry, as can be seen from the flatscreens all around us. Applications of this type are made possible by means of thin-film transistors (TFT).
Pressure sensitive foils have also been around for some time. Known as ferroelectrets, these are electrically charged polymer foams that generate an electrical signal in reaction to pressure. It has not been possible in the past to use this signal to switch thin-film transistors.
However, a joint Austrian and American team has recently achieved precisely this - a breakthrough in the development of ultra-thin, pressure-sensitive switches that have a range of potential applications as a result of their sensitivity and low production costs.
Electro-Sandwich "The key factor is the correct coating of the components," explains project manager Prof. Siegfried Bauer from the Institute of Experimental Physics at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz. "We applied a propylene foam over a TFT on a polyimide base. These are the type of TFTs we know from flatscreens."
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