Implementation of a flexible silicon-based tactile sensor array

This study reports an easy approach to realize the flexible sensor array. The silicon-based sensor chip is discretized into small chip array. The rigid but small silicon-based pressure sensors and flexible polymer material are integrated to implement the flexible tactile sensor array. The electrical routings for sensing signals are achieved using the through silicon interconnects and electroplated metal wires on polymer. The measurement results show that the sensitivity of tactile sensor can be up to 0.122 mV/V/kpa and the nonlinearity is about 1.7%. The bending test shows that the flexible sensor has a radius of curvature of 5.2mm. This study has successfully embedded the flexible sensor in the shoe pad to demonstrated the feasibility of wearable smart device.