Tactile microsensor elements prepared from arrayed superelastic carbon microcoils

Abstract

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 80×80×80 μm3 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. © 2005 American Institute of Physics.