Conjuncted Pyro‐Piezoelectric Effect for Self‐Powered Simultaneous Temperature and Pressure Sensing

Ferroelectric materials use both the pyroelectric effect and piezoelectric effect for energy conversion. A ferroelectric BaTiO₃‐based pyro‐piezoelectric sensor system is demonstrated to detect temperature and pressure simultaneously. The voltage signal of the device is found to enhance with increasing temperature difference with a sensitivity of about 0.048 V °C^?1 and with applied pressure with a sensitivity of about 0.044 V kPa^?1. Moreover, no interference appears in the output voltage signals when piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity are conjuncted in the device. A novel 4 × 4 array sensor system is developed to sense real‐time temperature and pressure variations induced by a finger. This system has potential applications in machine intelligence and man–machine interaction.     

Multiscale Hierarchical Design of a Flexible Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor with High Sensitivity and Wide Linearity Range

Flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors have been attracting wide attention for applications in health monitoring and human‐machine interfaces because of their simple device structure and easy‐readout signals. For practical applications, flexible pressure sensors with both high sensitivity and wide linearity range are highly desirable. Herein, a simple and low‐cost method for the fabrication of a flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor with a hierarchical structure over large areas is presented. The piezoresistive pressure sensor consists of arrays of microscale papillae with nanoscale roughness produced by replicating the lotus leaf's surface and spray‐coating of graphene ink. Finite element analysis (FEA) shows that the hierarchical structure governs the deformation behavior and pressure distribution at the contact interface, leading to a quick and steady increase in contact area with loads. As a result, the piezoresistive pressure sensor demonstrates a high sensitivity of 1.2 kPa⁻¹ and a wide linearity range from 0 to 25 kPa. The flexible pressure sensor is applied for sensitive monitoring of small vibrations, including wrist pulse and acoustic waves. Moreover, a piezoresistive pressure sensor array is fabricated for mapping the spatial distribution of pressure. These results highlight the potential applications of the flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor for health monitoring and electronic skin.     

Flexible Smart Noncontact Control Systems with Ultrasensitive Humidity Sensors

The development of noncontact humidity sensors with high sensitivity, rapid response, and a facile fabrication process is urgently desired for advanced noncontact human–machine interaction (HMI) applications. Here, a flexible and transparent humidity sensor based on MoO₃ nanosheets is developed with a low‐cost and easily manufactured process. The designed humidity sensor exhibits ultrahigh sensitivity, fast response, great stability, and high selectivity, exceeding the state‐of‐the‐art humidity sensors. Furthermore, a wearable moisture analysis system is assembled for real‐time monitoring of ambient humidity and human breathing states. Benefiting from the sensitive and rapid response to fingertip humidity, the sensors are successfully applied to both a smart noncontact multistage switch and a novel flexible transparent noncontact screen for smart mobile devices, demonstrating the potential of the MoO₃ nanosheets‐based humidity sensors in future HMI systems.     

Fatigue Resistant Aerogel/Hydrogel Nanostructured Hybrid for Highly Sensitive and Ultrabroad Pressure Sensing

Achieving high sensitivity over a broad pressure range remains a great challenge in designing piezoresistive pressure sensors due to the irreconcilable requirements in structural deformability against extremely high pressures and piezoresistive sensitivity to very low pressures. This work proposes a hybrid aerogel/hydrogel sensor by integrating a nanotube structured polypyrrole aerogel with a polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogel. The aerogel is composed of durable twined polypyrrole nanotubes fabricated through a sacrificial templating approach. Its electromechanical performance can be regulated by controlling the thickness of the tube shell. A thicker shell enhances the charge mobility between tube walls and thus expedites current responses, making it highly sensitive in detecting low pressure. Moreover, a nucleotide-doped PAAm hydrogel with a reversible noncovalent interaction network is harnessed as the flexible substrate to assemble the aerogel/hydrogel hybrid sensor and overcome sensing saturation under extreme pressures. This highly stretchable and self-healable hybrid polymer sensor exhibits linear response with high sensitivity (S_min > 1.1 kPa^?1), ultrabroad sensing range (0.12–≈400 kPa), and stable sensing performance over 10 000 cycles at the pressure of 150 kPa, making it an ideal sensing device to monitor pressures from human physiological signals to significant stress exerted by vehicles.     

Monitoring oxygen species in diamond hot-filament CVD by zircon dioxide sensors

Electrochemical zircon dioxide oxygen sensors were applied to measure oxygen in diamond hot-filament CVD (HFCVD) coating atmospheres. These low-pressure hydrogen environments are highly reductive and methane containing. Under industrial coating conditions there is the possibility that oxygen from ambient air enters the reactor by leakages. This leads to a tremendous influence on coating conditions by lowering the active carbon content in the gas phase and by decarburizing the gas activating filaments in HFCVD. In order to ensure process stability, a monitoring of an oxygen-related value is desired. This work displays the possibility to measure oxygen in HFCVD with potentiometric and amperometric ZrO₂ sensors. The dependency of the sensor signals on process parameters is investigated and the possibility of monitoring an oxygen-related value during a coating process is shown. The sensor signals allow a comparison of plants and processes regarding the seal tightness condition. The employed zircon dioxide sensors offer a cost effective and feasible method to monitor air leakage and ensure process reproducibility.     

A Digital−Analog Bimodal Memristor Based on CsPbBr3 for Tactile Sensory Neuromorphic Computing

Memristor with digital and analog bipolar bimodal resistive switching offers a promising opportunity for the information-processing component. However, it still remains a huge challenge that the memristor enables bimodal digital and analog types and fabrication of artificial sensory neural network system. Here, a proposed CsPbBr₃-based memristor demonstrates a high ON/OFF ratio (>10³), long retention (>10⁴ s), stable endurance (100 cycles), and multilevel resistance memory, which acts as an artificial synapse to realize fundamental biological synaptic functions and neuromorphic computing based on controllable resistance modulation. Moreover, a 5 × 5 spinosum-structured piezoresistive sensor array (sensitivity of 22.4 kPa⁻¹, durability of 1.5 × 10⁴ cycles, and fast response time of 2.43 ms) is constructed as a tactile sensory receptor to transform mechanical stimuli into electrical signals, which can be further processed by the CsPbBr₃-based memristor with synaptic plasticity. More importantly, this artificial sensory neural network system combined the artificial synapse with 5 × 5 tactile sensing array based on piezoresistive sensors can recognize the handwritten patterns of different letters with high accuracy of 94.44% under assistance of supervised learning. Consequently, the digital−analog bimodal memristor would demonstrate potential application in human–machine interaction, prosthetics, and artificial intelligence.     

Flexible and Transparent Gas Molecule Sensor Integrated with Sensing and Heating Graphene Layers

Graphene leading to high surface‐to‐volume ratio and outstanding conductivity is applied for gas molecule sensing with fully utilizing its unique transparent and flexible functionalities which cannot be expected from solid‐state gas sensors. In order to attain a fast response and rapid recovering time, the flexible sensors also require integrated flexible and transparent heaters. Here, large‐scale flexible and transparent gas molecule sensor devices, integrated with a graphene sensing channel and a graphene transparent heater for fast recovering operation, are demonstrated. This combined all‐graphene device structure enables an overall device optical transmittance that exceeds 90% and reliable sensing performance with a bending strain of less than 1.4%. In particular, it is possible to classify the fast (≈14 s) and slow (≈95 s) response due to sp²‐carbon bonding and disorders on graphene and the self‐integrated graphene heater leads to the rapid recovery (≈11 s) of a 2 cm × 2 cm sized sensor with reproducible sensing cycles, including full recovery steps without significant signal degradation under exposure to NO₂ gas.     

Beam Current Monitor with a High-Tc Current Sensor and SQUID at the RIBF

It is widely recognized that non-destructive measurement at high resolution of the DC current of high-energy heavy-ion beams is important. Therefore, a high critical temperature (HTc) superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) beam current monitor has been developed for use in the radioactive isotope beam factory (RIBF) at RIKEN in Japan. Unlike at other existing facilities, a low-vibration, pulse-tube refrigerator cools the HTc fabrications including the SQUID in such a way that the size of the system is reduced and the running costs are lowered. As a result, using a prototype of the HTc SQUID monitor, the intensity of a 1 μA Xe beam (50 MeV/u) was successfully measured with 100 nA resolution. Furthermore, since a higher resolution is necessary, development of an improved HTc current sensor with two coils has begun. A spraying machine was developed to fabricate the new HTc current sensor by dip-coating a thin layer of Bi₂–Sr₂–Ca₂–Cu₃–O _x (Bi-2223) onto a 99.6 % MgO ceramic substrate. Results from a new HTc current sensor produced using this machine are reported here.     

An interrogation unit for passive wireless SAW sensors based on fourier transform

The application of surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators as sensor elements for different physical parameters such as temperature, pressure, and force has been well-known for several years. The energy storage in the SAW and the direct conversion from physical parameter to a parameter of the wave, such as frequency or phase, enables the construction of a passive sensor that can be interrogated wireless. This paper presents a temperature-measurement system based on passive wireless SAW sensors. The principle of SAW sensors and SAW sensor interrogation is discussed briefly. A new measurement device developed for analyzing the sensor signals is introduced. Compared to former interrogation units that detect resonance frequency of the SAW resonator by comparing amplitudes of sensor response signals related to different stimulating frequencies, the new equipment is able to measure the resonance frequency directly by calculating a Fourier transformation of the resonator response signal. Measurement results of an experimental setup and field tests are presented and discussed.     

The elastic behaviour of Ce3S4 and La3S4

The hydrostatic pressure and temperature dependences of the elastic stiffnesses of the cubic, Th₃P₄ structure compounds Ce₃S₄ and La₃S₄ have been measured using the ultrasonic pulse echo overlap technique. Although Ce₃S₄, unlike La₃S₄ (T _c = 103 K), does not undergo a phase transition when its temperature is lowered to 16 K, its elastic stiffnesses (C₁₁-C₁₂)/2 and C₁₁ soften with decreasing temperature (in a similar manner but less markedly than those of La₃S₄); this lattice instability indicates an incipient phase transition. In both compounds the elastic constants increase under pressure: the long-wavelength acoustic-mode Grüneisen parameters are all positive, and the application of pressure does not induce acoustic phonon-mode softening.     

A Real-time Monitoring Technique for Local Plasticity in Metals Based on Lamb Waves and a Directional Actuator/Sensor Set

A real-time monitoring technique for local plasticity using Lamb waves was developed. Tensile test of a thin aluminum plate with a circular hole where high stress concentration was induced was conducted to verify this technique. During the tensile test, a series of wave signals passing through the local plastic region were collected using a directional actuator/sensor set to monitor plasticity evolution. A pulse compression technique was used to process the wave signals. With the increase of tensile stress in the specimen, the amplitude changes of S₀ and A₀ modes were obtained and the difference of Lamb wave signals was further evaluated using a proposed signal index I calculated by wavelet analysis. Combined with the numerical stress analysis of the tensile specimen, the influence of the plasticity on the amplitudes of S₀ and A₀ wave modes was analyzed. As the plastic zone grows gradually, the wave amplitudes and I of S₀ and A₀ wave modes show their different change tendencies compared with those in elastic stage. The amplitude change is more sensitive to mild plasticity than that of I, while the change of I caused by severe plasticity is more obvious than the amplitude change.     

Tactile sensor based on piezoelectric resonance

We discuss here the realization of tactile sensors based on the principle of change in piezoelectric resonance frequency with the applied pressure. An array of electrodes has been adopted on either side of the PZT material to have independent resonators. The common areas sandwiched between the electrodes and excitable at resonance frequency of the PZT material are used to form the sensitive area of the tactile sensor. The electrodes were deposited using sputtering technique. Tactile sensors with 3/spl times/3, 7/spl times/7, and 15/spl times/15 array of electrodes are developed with different electrode dimensions and separation between the electrodes. The tactile sensor has been interfaced to computer for the convenience of automatic scanning and making it more user interactive. The tactile sensors developed with different spatial resolution were tested for different shaped objects placed in contact with the sensor. The 3/spl times/3 matrix tactile sensor showed relatively poor spatial resolution, whereas the 15/spl times/15- matrix tactile sensor showed improved spatial resolution. The sensor with 7/spl times/7 matrix elements was tested for its sensitivity to different extents of applied force/pressure. The output response study carried out on the sensors indicated that these sensors can provide information not only about the extent of force/pressure applied on the object, but also the contour of the object which is in contact with the sensor.     

Solid-state sensors for in-line monitoring of NO2 in automobile exhaust emission

Three types of planar solid-state sensors for measuring NO₂ in a gas mixture has been designed and tested in the laboratory under controlled atmosphere between 573–723 K. The concentration of NO₂ in the gas mixture was in the range of 0–500 ppm with the balance gas consisting of air. The three types of NO₂ gas sensors that have been tested in this investigation can be schematically represented as follows:Pt, NO₂ + air, NaNO₃ + Ba(NO₃)₂ | NASICON disk | Porous YSZ disk | NO₂ + air, Pt (I)Pt, NO₂ + air, NaNO₃ + Ba(NO₃)₂ | NASICON disk | YSZ thin film | NO₂ + air, Pt (II)Pt, NO₂ + air, Pt | YSZ disk | Au – Pd, NO₂ + air, Pt (III)In sensor (I) the two solid electrolyte disks were attached by diffusion bonding at elevated temperature whereas in sensor (II) the (8 mol% Y₂O₃–ZrO₂) YSZ thin film was deposited on (Na₃Zr₂Si₂PO₁₂) NASICON disk by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering technique. The measured open circuit electromotive force (Emf) of each sensor was found to attain stable value at all the concentrations of NO₂ in the gas mixture and also varied linearly as a function of the logarithm of the partial pressure of NO₂ in the gas mixture. The time required to reach 90% of the stable emf at a fixed concentration of NO₂ and at a constant temperature was found to be 30–40 min for sensor (I) and approximately 2–3 min for sensor (II) and (III).     

Embedded micromachined fiber-optic Fabry-Perot pressure sensors in aerodynamics applications

Small size, high bandwidth pressure sensors are required for instrumentation of probes and test models in aerodynamic studies of complex unsteady flows. Optical-fiber pressure sensors promise potential advantages of small size and low cost in comparison with their electrical counterparts. We describe miniature Fabry-Perot cavity pressure sensors constructed by micromachining techniques in a turbine test application. The sensor bodies are 500 /spl mu/m squared, 300 /spl mu/m deep with a /spl sim/2 /spl mu/m-thick copper diaphragm electroplated on one face. The sensor cavity is formed between the diaphragm and the cleaved end of a single mode fiber sealed to the sensor by epoxy. Each sensor is addressed interferometrically in reflection by three wavelengths simultaneously, giving an unambiguous phase determination; a pressure sensitivity of 1.6 radbar/sup -1/ was measured, with a typical range of vacuum to 600 kPa. Five sensors were embedded in the trailing edge of a nozzle guide vane installed upstream of a rotor in a full-scale turbine stage transient test facility. Pressure signals in the trailing edge flow show marked structure at the 8 kHz blade passing frequency. To our knowledge, this is the first report of sensors located at the trailing edge of a normal-sized turbine blade.     

Sensing array for coherence analysis of modulated aquatic chemical plumes

Here we show that an array of sensors can provide information about the spatial and temporal distribution of chemicals in liquid turbulent plumes. Planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) and amperometric sensor arrays were used to record signals from modulated chemical plumes released into a recirculating flume. Coherence analysis was applied to extract the frequency components contained in the sensor response. Effects due to release distance, modulation frequency, and array orientation were investigated. This study has demonstrated that frequency encoded information can be extracted from a turbulent chemical plume using an array of amperometric sensors with optimized three-dimensional geometry and tuning.     

Piezotronic Tunneling Junction Gated by Mechanical Stimuli

Tunneling junction is used in many devices such as high‐frequency oscillators, nonvolatile memories, and magnetic field sensors. In these devices, modulation on the barrier width and/or height is usually realized by electric field or magnetic field. Here, a new piezotronic tunneling junction (PTJ) principle, in which the quantum tunneling is controlled/tuned by externally applied mechanical stimuli, is proposed. In these metal/insulator/piezoelectric semiconductor PTJs, such as Pt/Al₂O₃/p‐GaN, the height and the width of the tunneling barriers can be mechanically modulated via the piezotronic effect. The tunneling current characteristics of PTJs exhibit critical behavior as a function of external mechanical stimuli, which results in high sensitivity (≈5.59 mV MPa^?1), giant switching (>10⁵), and fast response (≈4.38 ms). Moreover, the mechanical controlling of tunneling transport in PTJs with various thickness of Al₂O₃ is systematically investigated. The high performance observed with these metal/insulator/piezoelectric semiconductor PTJs suggest their great potential in electromechanical technology. This study not only demonstrates dynamic mechanical controlling of quantum tunneling, but also paves a way for adaptive interaction between quantum tunneling and mechanical stimuli, with potential applications in the field of ultrasensitive press sensor, human–machine interface, and artificial intelligence.     

A Ratiometric Sensor Using Single Chirality Near‐Infrared Fluorescent Carbon Nanotubes: Application to In Vivo Monitoring

Advances in the separation and functionalization of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) by their electronic type have enabled the development of ratiometric fluorescent SWCNT sensors for the first time. Herein, single chirality SWCNT are independently functionalized to recognize either nitric oxide (NO), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), or no analyte (remaining invariant) to create optical sensor responses from the ratio of distinct emission peaks. This ratiometric approach provides a measure of analyte concentration, invariant to the absolute intensity emitted from the sensors and hence, more stable to external noise and detection geometry. Two distinct ratiometric sensors are demonstrated: one version for H₂O₂, the other for NO, each using 7,6 emission, and each containing an invariant 6,5 emission wavelength. To functionalize these sensors from SWCNT isolated from the gel separation technique, a method for rapid and efficient coating exchange of single chirality sodium dodecyl sulfate‐SWCNT is introduced. As a proof of concept, spatial and temporal patterns of the ratio sensor response to H₂O₂ and, separately, NO, are monitored in leaves of living plants in real time. This ratiometric optical sensing platform can enable the detection of trace analytes in complex environments such as strongly scattering media and biological tissues.     

Visualization Recording and Storage of Pressure Distribution through a Smart Matrix Based on the Piezotronic Effect

Pressure sensors that can both directly visualize and record applied pressure/stress are essential for e‐skin and medical/health monitoring. Here, using a WO₃‐film electrochromic device (ECD) array (10 × 10 pixels) and a ZnO‐nanowire‐matrix pressure sensor (ZPS), a pressure visualization and recording (PVR) system with a spatial resolution of 500 µm is developed. The distribution of external pressures can be recorded through the piezotronic effect from the ZPS and directly expressed by color changes in the ECD. Applying a local pressure can generate piezoelectric polarization charges at the two ends of the ZnO nanowires, which leads to the tuning of the current to be transported through the system and thus the color of the WO₃ film. The coloration and bleaching process in the ECD component show good cyclic stability, and over 85% of the color contrast is maintained after 300 cycles. In this PVR system, the applied pressure can be recorded without the assistance of a computer because of the color memory effect of the WO₃ material. Such systems are promising for applications in human‐electronic interfaces, military applications, and smart robots.     

Carbon nanotubes/ceria composite layers deposited on surface acoustic wave devices for gas detection at room temperature

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor on ATquartz piezoelectric substrate has been designed and fabricated. Test devices were based on asynchronous single-port resonators operating near the 434-MHz-centered industrial, scientific, and medical band. Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes/Ceria (MWNTs/CeO₂) nanocomposites were used as sensitive layers. The MWNTs were synthesized by catalytic chemical vapor deposition method and coated with nanosized ceria oxide. The composites were deposited on SAW quartz resonator using air-brush technique. MWNTs/CeO₂ nanocomposites were characterized using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron and atomic force microscopy. The sensor responses were tested under acetone (C₃H₅OH) and ethanol (C₂H₅OH) gases. The output signal was done by S₁₁ parameter of the SAW device and was monitored using a network analyzer. Frequency changes were observed under acetone and ethanol vapors. These changes depended on the surface conductivity of the nanocomposites deposited on the sensor. The single-port SAW gas sensor coated with the MWNTs/CeO₂ presented the highest sensitivity in the case of acetone vapor interacting with these layers, with a frequency shift of 200 kHz at room temperature.     

Tin dioxide-based gas sensors for detection of hydrogen fluoride in air

This research concentrates on the sensitivity of semiconductor tin dioxide-based gas sensors to hydrogen fluoride in air. After evaluating the characteristic detection temperature, the sensor's signals were studied for different HF concentrations. Despite the corrosive effects of hydrogen fluoride, a reproducibility of the signal was found. Likewise, we did not observe any long-term degradation to the sensor. For the experiment, the sensor was exposed to a gas mixture formed by HF, O₂, N₂ with a constant flow rate of 150 ml min⁻¹. The semiconductor gas sensor reached maximum sensitivity near 380 °C, and a minimum concentration was detected approximately 50 ppb. Moreover, the detection phenomenon appears to be reversible when considering the electrical response under a constant air flow.