Paper-thin electronic tactile skin makes touch screens ubiquitous in the future

Recently, a research team led by Ai Javey, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at UC Berkeley, published a paper in the journal Nature Materials, announcing the invention of a flexible screen made of plastic. This is the world's first user-interactive sensor network built on flexible plastic, also known as "electronic skin". As long as it is touched, it can quickly light up to give feedback to the user, and the greater the pressure, the brighter the light.

　　"We are not just making devices, we are making systems," Javey said. "With this interactive 'electronic skin', we have demonstrated that large electronic systems can exist on plastics and can be folded and stuffed into different objects at will. Without the limitation of circuit board size, we can be inspired to create more new human-computer interaction interfaces."

　　In addition to giving robots better touch sensing, the engineers believe the new e-skin technology could be used in cars to create something like wallpaper that doubles as a touchscreen display or dashboard laminate, allowing drivers to adjust electronic controls with just a wave of their hand.
 

　　Chuan Wang, another member of the team, said: "The electronic skin can also be tied to the arm and used as a health monitor to monitor the user's blood pressure and pulse anytime and anywhere."

　　Currently, the resolution of the latest electronic skin experimental samples is 16×16 pixels, and each pixel contains a transistor, an organic light-emitting diode and a pressure sensor.

　　"The concept of embedding sensors into the Internet is not entirely new, but transforming the data captured into something interactive is truly groundbreaking," Wang said. "Unlike the rigid touch screens on iPhones, computer monitors, and ATMs, the electronic skin is extremely flexible and can be easily laminated to any surface."
 

　　To create this flexible electronic skin, engineers took great pains to process a thin layer of polymer on a silicon wafer, wait for the plastic to solidify, and then cover it with a layer of electronic components. Finally, the plastic layer is peeled off the silicon wafer, leaving an independent film with an embedded sensor network.

　　Javey introduced in the paper that all electronic components are vertically integrated, leaving a very mature system on a relatively cheap piece of plastic. The technology can be commercialized quickly because it can be used in devices manufactured with existing semiconductor processes and is relatively cheap.

　　Currently, Javey's lab is developing the material's sensitivity to light and temperature, as well as optimizing its pressure sensing.