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Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Sensitivity Enhancement of Soft Capacitive Pressure Sensors Using a Solvent Evaporation-Based Porosity Control Technique
Published on: March 24, 2023
Elastomer thin-film pressure sensor based on embedded photonic tunnel-junction arrays
Abstract:
We propose an elastomer thin-film pressure sensor enabled by pressure-sensitive optical signals through vertical photonic tunnel-junction couplers. We provide the operation principle, design, fabrication, and test results from a 50 μm thick polydimethylsiloxane sheet accommodating embedded vertical photonic tunnel-junction couplers. The result with a 5 mm long device shows a differential optical power change that is ∼140% of the incident power under moderate external pressure of ∼40 kPa, thereby clearly demonstrating a robust pressure-sensing capability realized in a highly flexible, lightweight, transferrable, optically transparent, and bio-compatible thin-film material. Therefore, the proposed approach potentially enables versatile pressure and touch sensors for many applications in practice.
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