Tactile Sensor
Human skin is a typical sensory organ that not only protects the human body but also has various sensors on its surface and inside. If the sensing mechanism of the skin can be mimicked by electronics, it is expected to be possible to give human sensation to conventional robots and artificial hands, and various artificial skin electronic-skins (e-skins) have been developed. Among sensors, tactile sensors can detect pressure, the most basic physical quantity, and highly sensitive and accurate sensors have been reported. In this study, we have developed a method of detecting pressure with a drain current using an oxide semiconductor and an ion gel. When pressure is applied, the ion-gel forms a channel at the semiconductor interface and increases the drain current by four orders of magnitude. This has enabled us to realize a tactile sensor with very high sensitivity to pressure changes of 1-10 kPa. We will further develop this research to develop a novel wearable device, Ionic-skin (i-skin), which uses ions as the sensing principle.
S. Yamada, et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 110, 2017, pp. 253501-1-4.
