Stretchable Electronics & Optics for Artificial Skin

As a Postdoctoral Researcher or Research Engineer, you will perform research and innovation activities in the field of soft electronics and optical sensing for artificial skin applications. Within the Centre of Microelectronics and the Flexible Electronics Department (FEL), you will contribute to the development of stretchable optical waveguides and their integration into artificial skin demonstrators.

The flexible electronics department develops technological and scientific knowledge in the field of soft electronics. The department has a strong knowledge in the field of material and interface electrical and mechanical characterization. The activities of the department are regrouped in the 660m2-area platform. This technological platform regroups facilities and technological equipment for R&D activities in Micropackaging, micro and nano-electronics, in a clean room of 220m² 1000-class and 400m² 10000-class.

Stretchable electronics can also be combined with optical systems such as waveguides. These devices will be developed to create artificial skin with pressure and temperature sensing capabilities.

Within this project, the work will focus on the fabrication and characterization of stretchable optical waveguides, as well as on fabrication and integration techniques for optical components (LEDs / photodiodes). A related publication is “Transparent, Optical, Pressure-Sensitive Artificial Skin for Large-Area Stretchable Electronics” (https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201200523).

The main activities will include:

• Fabrication and characterization of elastomer waveguides for pressure and temperature sensing applications.
• Integration of optically pressure- or temperature-sensitive materials into the elastomer waveguides.
• Characterization and validation of complete sensing devices.

The fabrication processes and experimental setups are already available. However, good knowledge of Python is important for operating and further developing the test benches. Hands-on laboratory work is essential and will be partly performed in our clean room facility.

The expected outcome is the demonstration of radically new soft optical sensing devices with features and functions that cannot be achieved with conventional electronic approaches. This work is part of a European project involving multiple partners across Europe, including ETH Zurich (ETHZ), the University of Oxford, Johannes Kepler University Linz, EMPA…