Shapeable magnetoelectronics with sensitivities to geomagnetic fields and below


Shapeable magnetoelectronics with sensitivities to geomagnetic fields and below

Makarov, D.

The recent rapid advance and eagerness of portable consumer electronics stimulate the development of functional elements towards being lightweight, flexible, and wearable. Next generation flexible appliances aim to become fully autonomous and will require ultra-thin and flexible navigation modules, body tracking and relative position monitoring systems. Key building blocks of navigation and position tracking devices are magnetic field sensors.
Although there is a remarkable progress in the field of shapeable magnetoelectronics [1], there is no technology available which can enable sensitivities to geomagnetic fields of 50 µT and, ultimately, magnetic fields of smaller than 1 µT in a mechanically compliant form factor. If available, these devices would contribute greatly to the realization of high-performance on-skin interactive electronics [2,3] and point of care applications [4].
Here, I will review two technological platforms allowing to realize not only mechanically imperceptible electronic skins, which enable perception of the geomagnetic field (e-skin compasses) [4], but also enable sensitivities down to ultra-small fields of sub-50 nT [6]. We demonstrate that e-skin compasses allow humans to orient with respect to earth’s magnetic field ubiquitously. Furthermore, biomagnetic orientation enables novel interactive devices for virtual and augmented reality applications. We showcase this by realizing touchless control of virtual units in a game engine using omnidirectional magnetosensitive skins.

[1] D. Makarov et al., Applied Physics Reviews 3, 011101 (2016).
[2] G.S. Canon Bermudez, D. Makarov et al., Science Advances 4, eaao2623 (2018).
[3] M. Melzer, D. Makarov et al., Nature Communications 6, 6080 (2015).
[4] G. Lin, D. Makarov et al., Lab Chip 14, 4050 (2014).
[5] G.S. Canon Bermudez, D. Makarov et al., Nature Electronics, in press.
[6] P.N. Granell, D. Makarov et al., npj Flexible Electronics, in press.

Keywords: flexible electronics; magnetic field sensors

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Publ.-Id: 28261