Stretchable Printed Magnetic Sensors Based on Giant Magnetoresistive Microflakes for On-Skin Electronic Interfaces

On-demand fabrication of electronic devices is expected to be enabled by high throughput printing technologies1. Due to the simplified processing, printing is particularly attractive for flexible and stretchable electronics that are typically fabricated over polymeric soft substrates2. Wide research efforts are directed towards the development of conductive pastes with reliable electrical and mechanical properties.

Sensing pastes able to detect external stimuli are central for the operation of on-skin electronic interfaces. Among others, magnetic sensors are less prone to mechanical failure due to their touchless nature3. Solution processable pastes for magnetic sensing typically consist of composites of magnetoresistive micro- or nanoparticles embedded in polymeric binders4-7. Despite the research progress on printable magnetic sensors, until now there were no reports of printed magnetic sensors showing stable response after typical skin deformations: bending and stretching.

Here, we will show the fabrication and implementation of skin-compliant printed magnetic field sensors. These rely on microflakes obtained from a giant magnetoresistive (GMR) multilayer [Py/Cu]30 stacks. The microflakes were embedded on a poly(styrene-butadiene-styrene) copolymer (SBS) matrix that enables stretchability and high adherence properties. The stretchable printed magnetic sensors were obtained after dispensing the GMR paste over an ultrathin (3-µm-thick) Mylar substrate. We demonstrated stable sensing and mechanical performance even at 100% strain and 16 µm bending deformations, representing two orders of magnitude of performance enhancement with respect to previous works. The obtained sensors showed maximum sensitivity at 0.88 mT, which is compatible with the 40 mT safety threshold established by the World Health Organization7. These characteristics enabled a safe and conformal integration of the sensor for on-skin interactive electronics applications. We showed the use of the printed sensor platform for navigating through documents and digital maps. We foresee that the future development of this technology for user-specific fabrication of human-machine touchless interfaces with task-specific capabilities and integration8.
1 J.S. Chang, A.F. Facchetti and R. Reuss., IEEE Trans. Emerg. Sel. Topics Circuits Syst., Vol. 7, p.7 (2017)
2 Q. Huang and Yong Zhu., Adv Mater. Technol., Vol. 4, p.1800546 (2019)
3 S. Zuo, H. Heidari and D. Farina. Adv Mater. Technol., Vol. 5, p.2000185 (2020)
4 D. Karnaushenko, D. Makarov and M. Stöber, Adv. Mater., Vol.27, p.880 (2015)
5 J. Meyer, T. Rempel and M. Schäfers, Smart Mater. Struct., Vol. 22, p.025032 (2013)
6 B. Cox, D. Davis, N. Crews, Sens. Actuators, A, Vol. 203, p.335 (2013)
7 E.S. Oliveros Mata, G.S. Cañón Bermúdez and M. Ha,. Appl. Phys. A, Vol. 127, p.280 (2021)
8 Static Fields. World Health Organization. (2006)
9 M. Ha, E.S. Oliveros Mata and G. S. Cañón Bermúdez, Adv. Mater. Vol. 33, p.2005521 (2021)