Ultrasensitive skin-like wearable optical sensors based on glass micro/nanofibers

Abstract

Electronic skin, a class of wearable electronic sensors that mimic the functionalities of human skin, has made remarkable success in applications including health monitoring, human-machine interaction and electronic-biological interfaces. While electronic skin continues to achieve higher sensitivity and faster response, its ultimate performance is fundamentally limited by the nature of low-frequency AC currents. Herein, highly sensitive skin-like wearable optical sensors are demonstrated by embedding glass micro/nanofibers (MNFs) in thin layers of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Enabled by the transition from guided modes into radiation modes of the waveguiding MNFs upon external stimuli, the skin-like optical sensors show ultrahigh sensitivity (1870 kPa-1), low detection limit (7 mPa) and fast response (10 μs) for pressure sensing, significantly exceeding the performance metrics of state-of-the-art electronic skins. Electromagnetic interference (EMI)-free detection of high-frequency vibrations, wrist pulse and human voice are realized. Moreover, a five-sensor optical data glove and a 2×2-MNF tactile sensor are demonstrated. These initial results pave the way toward a new category of optical devices ranging from ultrasensitive wearable sensors to optical skins.

Laser direct writing and characterizations of flexible piezoresistive sensors with microstructures

“…The delay time ΔT between P1 and P2 was employed to estimate arterial stiffness. Herein, ΔT was estimated to be ~280 ms, which is consistent with literature data of a healthy male in his 20s 44 . The application of the sensor for voice recognition was shown in Figs.…”

Tunable infrared metamaterial-based biosensor for detection of hemoglobin and urine using phase change material

“…Nanoparticle acts as a wide-angle and multi/wide-band absorber in biosensor. The design of infrared biosensor using metamaterial for specific applications based on geometric parameters have been reported, which include temperature 38 , gas 39 , color 40 and optical 41 sensor.…”

Preparation and Application of Metal Nanoparticals Elaborated Fiber Sensors

“…The reproducible manufacturing technology of probes urgently needs a breakthrough in the future. This must refer to the production and integration methods of plasmonics devices in order to combine them with planar devices through waveguide coupling or sol packaging technology [141,142]. Corresponding sensor arrays and practical sensors are also expected to be developed, similar to the plasmonics chips [143,144].…”