Highly Sensitive and Transparent Pressure Sensor Using Double Layer Graphene Transferred onto Flexible Substrate

Graphene, an allotrope of carbon, is a two-dimensional material having a unique electro-mechanical property that shows significant change of the electrical conductance under the applied strain. In addition of the extraordinary mechanical strength [1], graphene becomes a prospective candidate for pressure sensor technology [2]. However, very few investigations have been carried out to demonstrate characteristics of graphene sensor as a device form. In this study, we demonstrate a pressure sensor using graphene double layer as an active channel to generate electrical signal as the response of the applied vertical pressure. For formation of the active channel in the pressure sensor, two single graphene layers which are grown on Cu foil (25 um thickness) by the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) are sequentially transformed to the poly-di-methyl-siloxane (PDMS) substrate. Dry and wet transfer methods are individually employed for formation of the double layer graphene. This sensor geometry results a switching characteristic which shows ~900% conductivity change in response to the application of pulsed pressure of 5 kPa whose on and off duration is 3 sec. Additionally, the functional reliability of the sensor confirms consistent behavior with a 200-cycle test.