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Abstract
Heat sensors form an important class of devices that are used across multiple fields and sectors. For applications such as electronic skin and health monitoring, it is particularly advantageous if the output electronic signals are not only high, stable, and reproducible, but also self-generated to minimize power consumption. Here, we present an ultrasensitive heat sensing concept that fulfills these criteria while also being compatible with scalable low-cost manufacturing on flexible substrates. The concept resembles a traditional thermocouple, but with separated electrodes bridged by a gel-like electrolyte and with orders of magnitudes higher signals (around 11 mV K−1). The sensor pixels provide stable and reproducible signals upon heating, which, for example, could be used for heat mapping. Further modification to plasmonic nanohole metasurface electrodes made the sensors capable of also detecting light-induced heating. Finally, we present devices on flexible substrates and show that they can be used to detect human touch.
Highlights
The ability to detect heat and temperature is essential in nature, and has aided animals, plants, and microorganisms to find their optimal conditions to grow and avoid damaging extremes[1,2]
Heat sensing thereby forms an essential part of the skin’s integrated network of sensors, which aid our interaction with the outside world by enabling detection of external stimuli[4]
Motivated by applications such as humanoid robotics, prosthetics, and wearable electronics, recent research has devoted significant efforts to develop electronic skin (e-skin) that can mimic the functionalities of human skin[5,6,7,8,9]
Summary
The ability to detect heat and temperature is essential in nature, and has aided animals, plants, and microorganisms to find their optimal conditions to grow and avoid damaging extremes[1,2]. The large signals make EATS suitable for detection of small temperature changes (0.1 °C), with response better than commercial TCs. The sensor signals are reproducible and the devices are stable over long periods (at least 6 months).
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