Low-Cost Thin and Flexible Screen-Printed Pressure Sensor

Abstract

Commercial pressure sensors are often fabricated using well-established silicon micromachining technologies. The thickness and stiffness of silicon-based sensors make them in most cases unsuitable for the integration into materials and surfaces. We present a flexible pressure sensor fabricated by printing technology. Therefore, an intrinsically pressure sensitive ink is screen printed on interdigital electrodes on a thin and flexible foil substrate. The sensor shows sufficient sensitivity and is applicable in a wide pressure range from 0 to 2 MPa. The sensor can completely be fabricated using a low-cost screen printing process. It is very thin and flexible, making it possible to be applied on curved surfaces or to be integrated into materials in a minimal invasive way.

Keywords

• flexible electronics
• pressure sensor
• screen-printing
• surface functionalization
• material integrated sensing