Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Sensors Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

MEMS, Flexible and Wearable Electronic Devices: Progress in Design, Optimization, Fabrication, Materials Integration, Packaging and Applications

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Intelligent Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024 | Viewed by 7103

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Murat Kaya Yapici

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

1. Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Department of Electronics Engineering, Sabanci University, Tuzla, Istanbul 34956, Turkey
2. Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
3. Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM), Tuzla, Istanbul 34956, Turkey
Interests: MEMS; microfabrication; nanofabrication; flexible/wearable electronics; biosensors; scanning probe lithography; AFM tip fabrication; graphene; magnetic manipulation; droplet manipulation; microfluidics; textile; ECG; electrode; UVLED lithography

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Research in MEMS and flexible and wearable electronic devices entails a holistic perspective at the crossroads of device design, materials, fabrication, integration, packaging, and application. Oftentimes, successful device demonstrations, be they for micromachined sensors/actuators, RF-MEMS, Bio-MEMS, flexible and/or wearable devices, require multiple iterations, cycling between design and fabrication to testing and characterization. Eventually, an optimized “system-level” integrated solution is reached, which is specific to the particular device design, the target application, the actual functional and structural materials that are used, and to the fabrication and/or packaging processes that are developed or employed.

This Special Issue focuses on the progress in micro/nano-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS/NEMS), micromachined sensors and actuators, and flexible and wearable electronic devices, with a particular emphasis on “system-level integration”, including new materials, the development of novel micro/nanofabrication approaches, the investigation of novel sensing modalities to detect and quantify physical, chemical or biological measurements, design and process optimization, packaging and/or assembly and heterogenous integration, to enable new applications and “More than Moore” devices.

Dr. Murat Kaya Yapici
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

MEMS sensors and actuators
RF-MEMS (e.g., inductors, switches)
bio-MEMS, biosensors, biochips, microfluidics
flexible electronics
wearables and applications (e.g., health monitoring, e-textiles)
flexible hybrid electronics
printed electronics
micro/nanofabrication, process design and optimization (e.g., e-beam lithography, nanoimprint)
printing techniques (e.g., dip-coating, spray printing, screen printing, inkjet printing) and inks
MEMS-CMOS integration, packaging
materials integration (e.g., 2D nanomaterials, transfer printing, self-assembly)
device design, modeling and optimization

Published Papers (6 papers)

Download All Papers

Order results

Result details

Show export options Show export options

Select all

Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

12 pages, 6691 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Flexible Wearable Sensor Based on Laser-Induced Graphene for High-Precision Fine Motion Capture for Pilots

by Xiaoqing Xing, Yao Zou, Mian Zhong, Shichen Li, Hongyun Fan, Xia Lei, Juhang Yin, Jiaqing Shen, Xinyi Liu, Man Xu, Yong Jiang, Tao Tang, Yu Qian and Chao Zhou

Sensors 2024, 24(4), 1349; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24041349 - 19 Feb 2024

Viewed by 780

Abstract

There has been a significant shift in research focus in recent years toward laser-induced graphene (LIG), which is a high-performance material with immense potential for use in energy storage, ultrahydrophobic water applications, and electronic devices. In particular, LIG has demonstrated considerable potential in the field of high-precision human motion posture capture using flexible sensing materials. In this study, we investigated the surface morphology evolution and performance of LIG formed by varying the laser energy accumulation times. Further, to capture human motion posture, we evaluated the performance of highly accurate flexible wearable sensors based on LIG. The experimental results showed that the sensors prepared using LIG exhibited exceptional flexibility and mechanical performance when the laser energy accumulation was optimized three times. They exhibited remarkable attributes, such as high sensitivity (~41.4), a low detection limit (0.05%), a rapid time response (response time of ~150 ms; relaxation time of ~100 ms), and excellent response stability even after 2000 s at a strain of 1.0% or 8.0%. These findings unequivocally show that flexible wearable sensors based on LIG have significant potential for capturing human motion posture, wrist pulse rates, and eye blinking patterns. Moreover, the sensors can capture various physiological signals for pilots to provide real-time capturing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS, Flexible and Wearable Electronic Devices: Progress in Design, Optimization, Fabrication, Materials Integration, Packaging and Applications)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 4610 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Expansion of the Analytical Modeling of Capacitance for 1-N-1 Multilayered CID Structures with Monotonically Increasing/Decreasing Permittivity

by Anwar Ulla Khan

Sensors 2023, 23(13), 5838; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23135838 - 23 Jun 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1301

Abstract

Capacitive sensors that utilize the Coplanar Interdigitated (CID) electrode structure are widely employed in various technical and analytical domains, such as healthcare, infectious disease management, pharmaceuticals, metrology, and environmental monitoring. The present exigency for lab-on-a-chip contrivances and the requisite for the miniaturization of sensors have led to the widespread adoption of CID sensors featuring multiple dielectric layers (DLs), either in the form of substrates or superstrates. Previously, we derived an analytical model for the capacitance of CID capacitive sensors with four distinct 1-N-1 patterns (namely, 1-1-1, 1-3-1, 1-5-1, and 1-11-1) using partial capacitance (PC) and conformal mapping (CM) techniques. The aforementioned model has been employed in various applications wherein the permittivity of successive layers exhibits a monotonic decrease as one moves away from the electrode plane, resulting in highly satisfactory outcomes. Nevertheless, the PC technique is inadequate for structures with multiple layers where the permittivity exhibits a monotonic increase as the distance from the electrodes increases. Given these circumstances, it is necessary to adapt the initial PC method to incorporate these novel configurations. In this work, we have discussed a new approach, splitting the concept of PC into partial parallel capacitance (PPC) and partial serial capacitance (PSC), where new CM transformations are proposed for the latter case. Thus, the present study proposes a novel methodology to expand upon our prior analytical framework, which aims to incorporate scenarios where the permittivity experiences a reduction across successive layers. The outcomes are juxtaposed with the finite element simulation and analytical findings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS, Flexible and Wearable Electronic Devices: Progress in Design, Optimization, Fabrication, Materials Integration, Packaging and Applications)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 6236 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Long-Acting Real-Time Microscopic Monitoring Inside the Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer

by Chi-Yuan Lee, Chia-Hung Chen, Hsian-Chun Chuang, Hsiao-Te Hsieh and Yen-Chen Chiu

Sensors 2023, 23(12), 5595; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23125595 - 15 Jun 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1017

Abstract

The proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) requires a high operating voltage for hydrogen production to accelerate the decomposition of hydrogen molecules so that the PEMWE ages or fails. According to the prior findings of this R&D team, temperature and voltage can influence the performance or aging of PEMWE. As the PEMWE ages inside, the nonuniform flow distribution results in large temperature differences, current density drops, and runner plate corrosion. The mechanical stress and thermal stress resulting from pressure distribution nonuniformity will induce the local aging or failure of PEMWE. The authors of this study used gold etchant for etching, and acetone was used for the lift-off part. The wet etching method has the risk of over-etching, and the cost of the etching solution is also higher than that of acetone. Therefore, the authors of this experiment adopted a lift-off process. Using the flexible seven-in-one (voltage, current, temperature, humidity, flow, pressure, oxygen) microsensor developed by our team, after optimized design, fabrication, and reliability testing, it was embedded in PEMWE for 200 h. The results of our accelerated aging test prove that these physical factors affect the aging of PEMWE. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS, Flexible and Wearable Electronic Devices: Progress in Design, Optimization, Fabrication, Materials Integration, Packaging and Applications)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 6574 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Flexible Seven-in-One Microsensor Embedded in High-Pressure Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer for Real-Time Microscopic Monitoring

by Chi-Yuan Lee, Chia-Hung Chen, Hsian-Chun Chuang, Shan-Yu Chen and Yu-Chen Chiang

Sensors 2023, 23(12), 5489; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23125489 - 10 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1026

Abstract

The voltage, current, temperature, humidity, pressure, flow, and hydrogen in the high-pressure proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) can influence its performance and life. For example, if the temperature is too low to reach the working temperature of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), the performance of the high-pressure PEMWE cannot be enhanced. However, if the temperature is too high, the MEA may be damaged. In this study, the micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology was used to innovate and develop a high-pressure-resistant flexible seven-in-one (voltage, current, temperature, humidity, pressure, flow, and hydrogen) microsensor. It was embedded in the upstream, midstream, and downstream of the anode and cathode of the high-pressure PEMWE and the MEA for the real-time microscopic monitoring of internal data. The aging or damage of the high-pressure PEMWE was observed through the changes in the voltage, current, humidity, and flow data. The over-etching phenomenon was likely to occur when this research team used wet etching to make microsensors. The back-end circuit integration was unlikely to be normalized. Therefore, this study used lift-off process to further stabilize the quality of the microsensor. In addition, the PEMWE is more prone to aging and damage under high pressure, so its material selection is very important. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS, Flexible and Wearable Electronic Devices: Progress in Design, Optimization, Fabrication, Materials Integration, Packaging and Applications)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

10 pages, 3644 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Frequency Response of a Six-Electrode MET Sensor at Extremely Low Temperatures

by Vadim Agafonov, Ivan Egorov and Anna Akinina

Sensors 2023, 23(9), 4311; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23094311 - 27 Apr 2023

Viewed by 984

Abstract

Four-electrode electrochemical cells are widely used for signal conversion in molecular-electronic transfer (MET) motion sensors. The most used ACCA (anode–cathode–cathode–anode) configuration has proven its performance and usefulness for obtaining a superior conversion factor and a wider frequency range over standard geophones at room temperature. However, the MET sensor conversion factor decreases a thousand-fold or more when the temperature drops from room temperature to 233 K. In the design suggested is this paper, a pair of additional gate (G) electrodes has been added outside the standard ACCA cell. An experimental study of the temperature behavior of the resulting G-ACCA-G six-electrode configuration showed that the effects of temperature changes on the cell conversion factor are 5.2 times weaker compared with the standard ACCA configuration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS, Flexible and Wearable Electronic Devices: Progress in Design, Optimization, Fabrication, Materials Integration, Packaging and Applications)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 2871 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Machine Learning-Based Modeling and Generic Design Optimization Methodology for Radio-Frequency Microelectromechanical Devices

by Rayan Bajwa and Murat Kaya Yapici

Sensors 2023, 23(8), 4001; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23084001 - 14 Apr 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1575

Abstract

RF-MEMS technology has evolved significantly over the years, during which various attempts have been made to tailor such devices for extreme performance by leveraging novel designs and fabrication processes, as well as integrating unique materials; however, their design optimization aspect has remained less explored. In this work, we report a computationally efficient generic design optimization methodology for RF-MEMS passive devices based on multi-objective heuristic optimization techniques, which, to the best of our knowledge, stands out as the first approach offering applicability to different RF-MEMS passives, as opposed to being customized for a single, specific component. In order to comprehensively optimize the design, both electrical and mechanical aspects of RF-MEMS device design are modeled carefully, using coupled finite element analysis (FEA). The proposed approach first generates a dataset, efficiently spanning the entire design space, based on FEA models. By coupling this dataset with machine-learning-based regression tools, we then generate surrogate models describing the output behavior of an RF-MEMS device for a given set of input variables. Finally, the developed surrogate models are subjected to a genetic algorithm-based optimizer, in order to extract the optimized device parameters. The proposed approach is validated for two case studies including RF-MEMS inductors and electrostatic switches, in which the multiple design objectives are optimized simultaneously. Moreover, the degree of conflict among various design objectives of the selected devices is studied, and corresponding sets of optimal trade-offs (pareto fronts) are extracted successfully. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue MEMS, Flexible and Wearable Electronic Devices: Progress in Design, Optimization, Fabrication, Materials Integration, Packaging and Applications)

► Show Figures

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

MEMS, Flexible and Wearable Electronic Devices: Progress in Design, Optimization, Fabrication, Materials Integration, Packaging and Applications

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (6 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI