• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • Capacitors
  • Resistors
  • Inductors
  • Filters
  • Fuses
  • Non-linear Passives
  • Applications
  • Integrated Passives
  • Oscillators
  • Passive Sensors
  • New Technologies
  • Aerospace & Defence
  • Automotive
  • Industrial
  • Market & Supply Chain
  • Medical
  • RF & Microwave
  • Telecommunication
A supercapacitor array made using a new fabrication technique that is faster and less expensive than photolithography. (Image by Peisheng He/UC Berkeley)

Researches Developed Fast and Low Cost Prototyping Technique to Make Wearable Stretchable Sensors and Supercapacitors

16.2.2022

Vishay NTC Thermistor LTspice Simulation for PID Optimization; Vishay Webinar

21.5.2022

Coverlay – More than a Flexible Soldermask Substitute; WE Webinar

19.5.2022

Stackpole Presents High Current Metal Shunt Resistors

19.5.2022

Coilcraft Introduced Ultra-Low Loss Shielded Power Inductors

19.5.2022
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • EPCI Advertisement & Membership
  • About
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
Passive Components Blog
  • Home
  • NewsFilter
    • All
    • Aerospace & Defence
    • Antenna
    • Applications
    • Automotive
    • Capacitors
    • Filters
    • Fuses
    • Inductors
    • Industrial
    • Integrated Passives
    • Market & Supply Chain
    • Medical
    • New Materials & Supply
    • New Technologies
    • Non-linear Passives
    • Oscillators
    • Passive Sensors
    • Resistors
    • RF & Microwave
    • Telecommunication

    Vishay NTC Thermistor LTspice Simulation for PID Optimization; Vishay Webinar

    Stackpole Presents High Current Metal Shunt Resistors

    Coilcraft Introduced Ultra-Low Loss Shielded Power Inductors

    Panasonic Releases SMD Automotive Power Choke Coil

    GAM Introduces Tantalum and Niobium Powders for Cold Spray Applications

    Skeleton Curved Graphene Scientists Named as European Inventor Award 2022 Finalists

    Flexible Cable Supercapacitor Application in EVs and HEVs

    Snubber Capacitor Selection for SiC-Based Switching Converters

    Vishay Releases High Precision Compact Thin Film Wraparound Chip Resistor 

    Trending Tags

    • Ripple Current
    • RF
    • Leakage Current
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
    • Snubber
    • Low ESR
    • Feedthrough
    • Derating
    • Dielectric Constant
    • New Products
    • Market Reports
  • VideoFilter
    • All
    • Antenna videos
    • Capacitor videos
    • Filter videos
    • Fuse videos
    • Inductor videos
    • Non-linear passives videos
    • Oscillator videos
    • Passive sensors videos
    • Resistor videos
    • Sensors

    Vishay NTC Thermistor LTspice Simulation for PID Optimization; Vishay Webinar

    Coverlay – More than a Flexible Soldermask Substitute; WE Webinar

    Soldering THT Components by SMD Reflow Assembly; WE Webinar

    Strain Gage Resistive Sensor Simulation; Vishay Video

    EMC Filters Explained – from Component to Design; WE Webinar

    How to Avoid EMI Noise on Data Cable by Isolated Power Module; WE askLorandt Video

    Introduction to Wireless Power Transfer; WE Webinar

    How to Pass Conducted Emissions Using Line Filters; WE Webinar

    EMI Debugging of a Low Power Buck Converter; WE Webinar

    Trending Tags

    • Capacitors explained
    • Inductors explained
    • Resistors explained
    • Filters explained
    • Application Video Guidelines
    • EMC
    • New Products
    • Ripple Current
    • Simulation
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
  • Knowledge Blog
  • Preferred Suppliers
  • Who is Who
  • Events
  • Home
  • NewsFilter
    • All
    • Aerospace & Defence
    • Antenna
    • Applications
    • Automotive
    • Capacitors
    • Filters
    • Fuses
    • Inductors
    • Industrial
    • Integrated Passives
    • Market & Supply Chain
    • Medical
    • New Materials & Supply
    • New Technologies
    • Non-linear Passives
    • Oscillators
    • Passive Sensors
    • Resistors
    • RF & Microwave
    • Telecommunication

    Vishay NTC Thermistor LTspice Simulation for PID Optimization; Vishay Webinar

    Stackpole Presents High Current Metal Shunt Resistors

    Coilcraft Introduced Ultra-Low Loss Shielded Power Inductors

    Panasonic Releases SMD Automotive Power Choke Coil

    GAM Introduces Tantalum and Niobium Powders for Cold Spray Applications

    Skeleton Curved Graphene Scientists Named as European Inventor Award 2022 Finalists

    Flexible Cable Supercapacitor Application in EVs and HEVs

    Snubber Capacitor Selection for SiC-Based Switching Converters

    Vishay Releases High Precision Compact Thin Film Wraparound Chip Resistor 

    Trending Tags

    • Ripple Current
    • RF
    • Leakage Current
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
    • Snubber
    • Low ESR
    • Feedthrough
    • Derating
    • Dielectric Constant
    • New Products
    • Market Reports
  • VideoFilter
    • All
    • Antenna videos
    • Capacitor videos
    • Filter videos
    • Fuse videos
    • Inductor videos
    • Non-linear passives videos
    • Oscillator videos
    • Passive sensors videos
    • Resistor videos
    • Sensors

    Vishay NTC Thermistor LTspice Simulation for PID Optimization; Vishay Webinar

    Coverlay – More than a Flexible Soldermask Substitute; WE Webinar

    Soldering THT Components by SMD Reflow Assembly; WE Webinar

    Strain Gage Resistive Sensor Simulation; Vishay Video

    EMC Filters Explained – from Component to Design; WE Webinar

    How to Avoid EMI Noise on Data Cable by Isolated Power Module; WE askLorandt Video

    Introduction to Wireless Power Transfer; WE Webinar

    How to Pass Conducted Emissions Using Line Filters; WE Webinar

    EMI Debugging of a Low Power Buck Converter; WE Webinar

    Trending Tags

    • Capacitors explained
    • Inductors explained
    • Resistors explained
    • Filters explained
    • Application Video Guidelines
    • EMC
    • New Products
    • Ripple Current
    • Simulation
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
  • Knowledge Blog
  • Preferred Suppliers
  • Who is Who
  • Events
No Result
View All Result
Passive Components Blog
No Result
View All Result

Researches Developed Fast and Low Cost Prototyping Technique to Make Wearable Stretchable Sensors and Supercapacitors

16.2.2022
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0 0
A supercapacitor array made using a new fabrication technique that is faster and less expensive than photolithography. (Image by Peisheng He/UC Berkeley)

A supercapacitor array made using a new fabrication technique that is faster and less expensive than photolithography. (Image by Peisheng He/UC Berkeley)

0
SHARES
53
VIEWS

Engineers at UC Berkeley have developed a new technique for making stretchable flexible electronics – wearable sensors and supercapacitors – that enables medical researchers to prototype test new designs much faster and at a far lower cost than existing methods.

The new technique replaces photolithography — a multistep process used to make computer chips in clean rooms — with a $200 vinyl cutter. The novel approach slashes the time to make small batches of sensors by nearly 90% while cutting costs by almost 75%, said Renxiao Xu (Ph.D.’20 ME), who developed the technique while pursuing his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Berkeley.

RelatedPosts

Electroninks Enhanced Ultra-Fine Silver Ink Ready for Aerosol Jet Printing

High Energy Flexible Supercapacitors for IoT Applications

Integrated Flexible Solar and Supercapacitors Maximize IoT Device Performance & Operating Life

“Most researchers working on medical devices have no background in photolithography,” Xu said. “Our method makes it easy and inexpensive for them to change their sensor design on a computer and then send the file to the vinyl cutter to make.”

A description of the technique was published Jan. 25 in ACS Nano. Xu, who now works at Apple, and Liwei Lin, professor of mechanical engineering and co-director of the Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center, were the lead researchers.

Wearable sensors are often used by researchers to gather medical data from patients over extended periods of time. They range from adhesive bandages on skin to stretchable implants on organs, and harness sophisticated sensors to monitor health or diagnose illnesses. These devices consist of flat wires, called interconnects, as well as sensors, power sources and antennas to communicate data to smartphone apps or other receivers. To maintain full functionality, they must stretch, flex and twist with the skin and organs they are mounted on — without generating strains that would compromise their circuitry.

A stretchable “smart mesh” made from the two-mode cutting fabrication process. This device could be applied in skin-mounted sweat extraction and sensing. (Image by Peisheng He/UC Berkeley)

To achieve low-strain flexibility, engineers use an “island-bridge” structure, Xu said. The islands house rigid electronics and sensor components, such as commercial resistors, capacitors and lab-synthesized components like carbon nanotubes. The bridges link the islands to one another. Their spiral and zigzag shapes stretch like springs to accommodate large deformations. In the past, researchers have built these island-bridge systems using photolithography, a multistep process that uses light to create patterns on semiconductor wafers. Making wearable sensors this way requires a clean room and sophisticated equipment.

The new technique is simpler, faster and more economical, especially when making the one or two dozen samples that medical researchers typically need for testing. Making sensors starts by attaching an adhesive sheet of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to a Mylar (biaxially oriented PET) substrate. Other plastics would also work, Xu said.

A vinyl cutter then shapes them using two types of cuts. The first, the tunnel cut, slices through only the top PET layer but leaves the Mylar substrate untouched. The second type, the through cut, carves through both layers. This is enough to produce island-bridge sensors. First, tunnel cuts are used in the upper adhesive PET layer to trace the path of the interconnects; then the cut PET segments are peeled off, leaving behind the pattern of interconnects on the exposed Mylar surface.

Next, the entire plastic sheet is coated with gold (another conductive metal could be used as well). The remaining top PET layer is peeled away, leaving a Mylar surface with well-defined interconnects, as well as exposed metal openings and contact pads on the islands. Sensor elements are then attached to the contact pads. For electronic devices, such as resistors, a conductive paste and a common heat plate are used to secure the bond. Some lab-synthesized components, such as carbon nanotubes, can be applied directly to the pads without any heating. Once this step is done, the vinyl cutter uses through cuts to carve the sensor’s contours, including spirals, zigzags and other features. To demonstrate the technique, Xu and Lin developed a variety of stretchable elements and sensors. One mounts under the nose and measures human breath based on the tiny changes in temperatures it creates between the front and back of the sensor.

“For a breath sensor, you don’t want to something bulky,” Lin said. “You want something thin and flexible, almost like a tape beneath your nose, so you can fall asleep while it records a signal over a long period of time.”

Another prototype consists of an array of water-resistant supercapacitors, which store electrical power like a battery but release it more rapidly. Supercapacitors could provide power for some types of sensors.

“We could also make more complex sensors by adding capacitors or electrodes to make electrocardiogram measurements, or chip-sized accelerometers and gyroscopes to measure motion,” Xu said.

Size is sensor cutting’s one key limitation. Its smallest features are 200 to 300 micrometers wide, while photolithography can produce features that are tens of micrometers wide. But most wearable sensors do not require such fine features, Xu noted. The researchers believe this technique could one day become a standard feature in every lab studying wearable sensors or new diseases. Prototypes could be designed using high-powered computer-aided design (CAD) software or simpler apps made especially for vinyl printers. Other study authors are Kamyar Behrouzi, Peisheng He, Tao Jiang, Guangchen Lan, Ashley Lee, Yu Long, Yande Peng and Dongkai Wang.

Source: University of Berkeley

Related Posts

Applications e-Blog

Vishay NTC Thermistor LTspice Simulation for PID Optimization; Vishay Webinar

21.5.2022
30
Applications e-Blog

Coverlay – More than a Flexible Soldermask Substitute; WE Webinar

19.5.2022
9
Capacitors

GAM Introduces Tantalum and Niobium Powders for Cold Spray Applications

19.5.2022
37

Popular Posts

  • Capacitor Selection for Coupling and Decoupling Applications

    28 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 0
  • How to Choose the Right Inductor for DC-DC Buck Applications

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What is a Dielectric Constant of Plastic Materials ?

    4 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 0
  • Dielectric Constant and its Effects on the Properties of a Capacitor

    7 shares
    Share 7 Tweet 0
  • Ripple Current and its Effects on the Performance of Capacitors

    3 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 0

Newsletter Subscription

 

  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • EPCI Advertisement & Membership
  • About

© 2021 EPCI - Premium Passive Components Educational and Information Site

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Video
  • Knowledge Blog
  • Preferred Suppliers
  • Events

© 2021 EPCI - Premium Passive Components Educational and Information Site

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.