Prof. Tae-il Kim and his research team at Sungkyunkwan University proposed dramatically enhanced sensitivity in nanoscale crack-based mechanosensors by studying crack geometrical effects. The work was published in Advanced Materials.
Until today, detecting a meaningful signal is still challenging because their subtle, minute amplitudes are embedded in relatively high-intensity noise. To overcome the chronic problem, Prof. Kim's group has developed dramatically enhanced mechanosensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio of nanoscale crack-based sensors. They focused on the geometry of cracks and controlled the geometry of crack on crack sensors, especially crack depth, by applying additional tensile forces after generating initial cracks without changing other geometrical factors. They raise the sensitivity up to 16,000, as well as a signal-to-noise ratio up to ~40 which enables the detecting of a few nanometer of stimulation.
The team compared it to a previously reported sensor that detects various mechanical signals, hand movements and voice tone. The superior GF and SNR of SKKU's sensor enabled a clear signal detection of a voice, singing “Twinkle little star”, even in electrically-noisy environments. The team's strategy would be useful in security, recognition system and the healthcare system.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.201602425/abstract
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201602425
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