Three Dimensional Liquid Gated Graphene Field Effect Strain Sensor

Abstract: Realizing flexible strain sensor with high sensitivity and tunable gauge factor is a challenge. To meet this challenge, we report an ionic liquid gated three-dimensional graphene field effect strain sensor. The charge carrier concentration in this 3D graphene is modulated by applied electric field through an all-around self-assembled electrical double layer capacitance formed at the interface of graphene with ionic liquid. Strain causes folding and unfolding of microscopic wrinkles and formation of cracks in the graphene network altering transistor behavior. Mechanical deformation of graphene also alters its bandgap providing inherent strain sensitivity. Use of 3D network results in robust operation since there exists multiple paths for the charge carriers to flow between source and drain terminals. Interestingly, changing the applied bias allows one to tune the gauge factor of this graphene transistor based strain sensor. The current-voltage characteristics of the sensor were measured for different tensile strain values of 0.5% to 35%. Our results show that the sensor maintains its field effect characteristics over a large strain range; moreover it enables up to 68% tunability in the strain gauge factor. We also report cyclic measurements with varied magnitude and frequency showing repeatability and robustness as a highly sensitive strain sensor.