Future electronic skin aims to mimic nature’s original both in functionality and appearance. Although some of the multifaceted properties of human skin may remain exclusive to the biological system, electronics opens a unique path that leads beyond imitation and could equip us with unfamiliar senses. Here we demonstrate giant magnetoresistive sensor foils with high sensitivity, unmatched flexibility and mechanical endurance. They are <2 μm thick, extremely flexible (bending radii <3 μm), lightweight (≈3 g m−2) and wearable as imperceptible magneto-sensitive skin that enables proximity detection, navigation and touchless control. On elastomeric supports, they can be stretched uniaxially or biaxially, reaching strains of >270% and endure over 1,000 cycles without fatigue. These ultrathin magnetic field sensors readily conform to ubiquitous objects including human skin and offer a new sense for soft robotics, safety and healthcare monitoring, consumer electronics and electronic skin devices.

Highly flexible bismuth Hall sensors on polymeric foils are fabricated, and the key optimization steps that are required to boost their sensitivity to the bulk value are identified. The sensor can be bent around the wrist or positioned on the finger to realize an interactive pointing device for wearable electronics. Furthermore, this technology is of great interest for the rapidly developing market of ­eMobility, for optimization of eMotors and magnetic bearings.

Abstract:In this work, stretchable magnetic sensorics is successfully established by combining metallic thin films revealing a giant magnetoresistance effect with elastomeric materials. Stretchability of the magnetic nanomembranes is achieved by specific morphologic features (e.g. wrinkles), which accommodate the applied tensile deformation while maintaining the electrical and magnetic integrity of the sensor device. The entire development, from the demonstration of the world-wide first elastically stretchable magnetic sensor to the realization of a technology platform for robust, ready-touse elastic magnetoelectronics with fully strain invariant properties, is described. The prepared soft giant magnetoresistive devices exhibit the same sensing performance as on conventional rigid supports, but can be stretched uniaxially or biaxially reaching strains of up to 270% and endure over 1,000 stretching cycles without fatigue. The comprehensive magnetoelectrical characterization upon tensile deformation is correlated with in-depth structural investigations of the sensor morphology transitions during stretching.With their unique mechanical properties, the elastic magnetoresistive sensor elements readily conform to ubiquitous objects of arbitrary shapes including the human skin. This feature leads electronic skin systems beyond imitating the characteristics of its natural archetype and extends their cognition to static and dynamic magnetic fields that by no means can be perceived by human beings naturally.Various application fields of stretchable magnetoelectronics are proposed and realized throughout this work. The developed sensor platform can equip soft electronic systems with navigation, orientation, motion tracking and touchless control capabilities. A variety of novel technologies, like smart textiles, soft robotics and actuators, active medical implants and soft consumer electronics will benefit from these new magnetic functionalities. Michael Melzer: Stretchable MagnetoelectronicsOutline 4

The first highly stretchable and sensitive spin valve sensor on elastomeric membranes are demonstrated. The sensor elements exhibit stable GMR behavior up to tensile strains of 29% in in situ stretching experiments and show no fatigue over 500 loading cycles. This remarkable stretchability is achieved by a predetermined periodic fracture mechanism that creates a meander-like pattern upon stretching.

No abstract

No abstract

Artificial electronic skins (e-skins) comprise an integrated matrix of flexible devices arranged on a soft, reconfigurable surface. These sensors must perceive physical interaction spaces between external objects and robots or humans. Among various types of sensors, flexible magnetic sensors and the matrix configuration are preferable for such position sensing. However, sensor matrices must efficiently map the magnetic field with real-time encoding of the positions and motions of magnetic objects. This paper reports an ultrathin magnetic sensor matrix system comprising a 2 × 4 array of magnetoresistance sensors, a bootstrap organic shift register driving the sensor matrix, and organic signal amplifiers integrated within a single imperceptible platform. The system demonstrates high magnetic sensitivity owing to the use of organic amplifiers. Moreover, the shift register enabled real-time mapping of 2D magnetic field distribution.

A flexible diagnostic platform is realized and its performance is demonstrated for early detection of avian influenza virus (AIV) subtype H1N1 DNA sequences. The key component of the platform is high-performance biosensors based on high output currents and low power dissipation Si nanowire field effect transistors (SiNW-FETs) fabricated on flexible 100 μm thick polyimide foils. The devices on a polymeric support are about ten times lighter compared to their rigid counterparts on Si wafers and can be prepared on large areas. While the latter potentially allows reducing the fabrication costs per device, the former makes them cost efficient for high-volume delivery to medical institutions in, e.g., developing countries. The flexible devices withstand bending down to a 7.5 mm radius and do not degrade in performance even after 1000 consecutive bending cycles. In addition to these remarkable mechanical properties, on the analytic side, the diagnostic platform allows fast detection of specific DNA sequences of AIV subtype H1N1 with a limit of detection of 40 × 10(-12) m within 30 min suggesting its suitability for early stage disease diagnosis.