Micromachined optically transparent, flexible pressure sensor array exhibiting ultrahigh sensitivity

Development of an array of ultrasensitive capacitive pressure sensors which is both optically transparent in the visible range and flexible would represent a significant advance over current sensor capabilities. To construct these micromachined pressure sensors, the efficacy of oxygen plasma to bond the microfluidic network constructed out of polydimethlysiloxane and various plastic substrates has been examined. These pressure sensing elements can find potential applications in lab-on-a-chip environments, biosensors and photonic switching. The design, modeling, fabrication and measurement results are presented. (C) 2012 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.JMM.11.1.013005]