Researchers have developed a 3D tactile sensor that can detect an unprecedented range of pressures and generate an electrical signal based on the actions of touch, giving it great potential for use in touchscreens and other next-generation device technology, they said.
The work comes from a team at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in South Korea led by Professor Jang-Ung Park of the Materials Science and Engineering department, who developed a novel method for fabricating a transistor-type active-matrix 3D pressure sensor with air-dielectric layers.
The work differs from similar research chiefly because of the materials the team used to develop transistors, Park said. Today, most transistors are created with silicon channel and silicon oxide-based dielectrics. However, these transistors either lack transparency or are inflexible, hindering their use for the development of highly integrated pressure sensor arrays and transparent pressure sensors, he said.
