Gradient Architecture-Enabled Capacitive Tactile Sensor with High Sensitivity and Ultrabroad Linearity Range

The sensitivity and linearity are critical parameters that can preserve the high pressure-resolution across a wide range and simplify the signal processing process of flexible tactile sensors. Although extensive micro-structured dielectrics have been explored to improve the sensitivity of capacitive sensors, the attenuation of sensitivity with increasing pressure is yet to be fully resolved. Herein, a novel dielectric layer based on the gradient micro-dome architecture (GDA) is presented to simultaneously realize the high sensitivity and ultrabroad linearity range of capacitive sensors. The gradient micro-dome pixels with rationally collocated amount and height can effectively regulate the contact area and hence enable the linear variation in effective dielectric constant of the GDA dielectric layer under varying pressures. With systematical optimization, the sensor exhibits the high sensitivity of 0.065 kPa(-1) in an ultrabroad linearity range up to 1700 kPa, which is first reported. Based on the excellent sensitivity and linearity, the high pressure-resolution can be preserved across the full scale of pressure spectrum. Therefore, potential applications such as all-round physiological signal detection in diverse scenarios, control instruction transmission with combinatorial force inputs, and convenient Morse code communication with non-overlapping capacitance signals are successfully demonstrated through a single sensor device.