A Simple Capacitive Sensor Array Based on a Metal-Insulator-Metal Structure

A simple array of metal-insulator-metal capacitive elements was proposed for a potential application in humidity sensing platforms. We fabricated meso-scale sensors with different sizes(large-size: $2.7{\times}2.7mm^2$ ; mid-size: $1.5{\times}1.5mm^2$ ; small-size: $0.7{\times}0.7mm^2$) and characterized the performance of each design. Polyimide films were utilized as a humidity-sensitive layer. Capacitance changes of the polyimide layer were measured with respect to water absorption. The device showed sensitivity in the full range of relative humidity (RH) with excellent linearity(correlation coefficient > 0.994). This array structure exhibits unique advantages including easy fabrication process, high batch productivity, and high structural compatibility with various substrate materials. It is anticipated that this device structure will be potentially useful in unique applications including mapping spatial humidity variations over a meso-scale area and implementing flexible humidity sensing element arrays.