Thin film strain gauges on polymers: main characteristics

Abstract

We present a new technology to realize thin film strain gauges on polymer films by cathodic sputtering. We show that high resistance values on small surfaces (>1000 Ω mm−2) are feasible and we propose a new method to compensate for the test structure creep. Thanks to an adequate combination of thin film materials (NiCrSi and CuNiMn), accurate weighing measurements (<10−4 of the full scale of the sensor) are obtained without needing to change the gauge geometry.