Tactile microsensor elements prepared from arrayed superelastic carbon microcoils

Superelastic carbon microcoils (SCMCs) with high elasticity and coiling chirality were prepared by the Ni-catalyzed pyrolysis of acetylene, and novel tactile microsensor elements using the SCMCs as the sensor material were prepared. The sensor elements with a very small size of 80x80x80 mu m(3) showed a very high sensitivity of 0.3 mgf (1 Pa). It was found that the SCMC arraying in the matrix and the placement method on the electrodes dramatically affected the sensing properties. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.