TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Pressure-Sensitive Artificial 'Skin' in Development

University researchers are working on novel ways to fabricate supple, durable two-dimensional integuments that can detect and measure a range of physical pressures at many points across a surface.

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Pressure-Sensitive Artificial 'Skin' in Development
An article released earlier this week by John Boland of the School of Chemistry and the CRANN Nanoscience Institute of Trinity College, Dublin, in the online version of the journal Nature Materials, cites two recent research projects, both in California, offering novel ways to fabricate supple, durable two-dimensional integuments that�like human skin�can detect and measure a range of physical pressures at many points across a surface. In principle, these advances enable useful machine approximation of certain aspects of the human sense of touch.

The first group, headed by Ali Javey of the University of California, Berkeley, has developed a process for depositing silicon/germanium nanowires in patterns on the surface of a rotating drum. The process is said to be conceptually similar to the action of a lint brush in reverse. The deposited semiconductor wires can be coaxed into patterns, enabling them to function as transistors.

In a proof-of-concept demonstration, Javey's team created an 18-by-19 array of nanowire transistors on a rubber substrate, and was able to precisely locate and measure pressures on this array from 0 to 15 kilopascals�similar to pressures encountered in typing, holding objects or performing light manual tasks.

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