Strain sensor array using printed single crystalline silicon on plastic substrate

摘要

This thesis analyzes the piezoresistive effect in metal and semiconductor, discusses the effectof temperature and doping concentration, introduces a newly developed strain gauge usingsingle crystalline silicon on plastic substrate, and describes the Colpitts oscillator that has the potential of wireless data transmission between sensor and data acquisition unit. In general, a metal strain gauge has high flexibility with low sensitivity, whereas the semiconductor straingauge has high sensitivity with low flexibility. Devices using thin ribbons of single crystallinesilicon on plastic show gauge factor of 41 with good flexibility and repeatability. Integratingwith PN diodes on the same substrate yields a large area 6 x 6 array that can be used in various applications such as structural health monitoring and cybergloves. The successful fabrication of all active and passive components of the Colpitts oscillator on the same flexible substrate has great promise for future high speed wireless data acquisition systems.