Flexible tactile sensors using AlN and MOSFETs based ultra-thin chips

Ma, S., Kumaresan, Y. , Dahiya, A. S. , Lorenzelli, L. and Dahiya, R. (2023) Flexible tactile sensors using AlN and MOSFETs based ultra-thin chips. IEEE Sensors Journal, 23(20), pp. 23988-23994. (doi: 10.1109/JSEN.2022.3140651)

Abstract

This paper presents ultrathin chips (UTCs) based flexible tactile sensing system for dynamic contact pressure measurement. The device comprises of an AlN piezocapacitor based UTCs tightly coupled with another UTCs having metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs). In this arrangement the AlN piezocapacitor forms the extended gate of MOSFETs. Both AlN piezocapacitor and MOSFET based UTCs are obtained by post-process reduction of wafer thicknesses to ~35μm using backside lapping. The performances of both UTCs were evaluated both before and after thinning and there was no noticeable performance degradation. The UTC-based AlN piezocapacitor exhibited six times higher sensitivity (43.79mV/N) than the thin filmbased AlN sensors. When coupled with MOSFETs based UTC, the observed sensitivity was 0.43N-1. The excellent performance, flexible form factor and compactness shows the potential of presented device in applications such minimal invasive surgical instruments where high-resolution tactile feedback is much needed.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Dahiya, Dr Abhishek Singh and Dahiya, Professor Ravinder and Ma, Sihang and Kumaresan, Dr Yogeenth
• Authors: Ma, S., Kumaresan, Y., Dahiya, A. S., Lorenzelli, L., and Dahiya, R.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Electronics and Nanoscale Engineering
• Journal Name: IEEE Sensors Journal
• Publisher: IEEE
• ISSN: 1530-437X
• ISSN (Online): 1558-1748
• Published Online: 07 January 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 IEEE
• First Published: First published in IEEE Sensors Journal 23(20):23988 - 23994
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
301728		Engineering Fellowships for Growth: Printed Tactile SKIN	Ravinder Dahiya	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/R029644/1	ENG - Electronics & Nanoscale Engineering
301327		`Hetero-print: A holistic approach to transfer-printing for heterogeneous integration in manufacturing	Peter Skabara	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/R03480X/1	ENG - Electronics & Nanoscale Engineering