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Compliant on-skin compass for artificial magnetoception

Cañon Bermúdez, G. S.; Makarov, D.; Fassbender, J.

Flexible electronics has inspired novel concepts like electronic skins[1] and more recently, magnetosensitive skins[2], i. e., artificial skins which allow humans to perceive magnetic fields. This ability to detect and respond to magnetic fields, commonly referred to as magnetoception, has sparked several legends since the old sailing times. Back then, it was believed that compass rose tattoos would allow sailors to always find the way home. Here, we present a flexible electronics platform to turn this ancient belief into a functional on-skin compass system.
The highly compliant compass is prepared on 6-micron-thick polymeric foils and relies on the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) effect in magnetic thin film sensors. Its response is tailored to be linear and possess maximum sensitivity around the earth’s magnetic field by using a barber pole scheme, which forces the current in the sensor to flow 45 degrees skewed with respect to the easy axis of the AMR stripes. We envision that this on-skin compass could support research efforts on biomagnetic orientation and novel magnetic interactive devices. In the latter case, the applications span a plethora of tasks from virtual or augmented reality systems to touchless security systems and magnetic tags.
[1] D. H. Kim et al., Science 333, 838 (2011).
[2] M. Melzer, DM et al., Nature Commun. 6, 6080 (2015).

Keywords: Functional Materials (Actuators; catalysts; energy storage; energy conversion; filters; sensors; shape memory)

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Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-26753
Publ.-Id: 26753