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High-resolution electroluminescent imaging of pressure distribution using a piezoelectric nanowire LED array

Nature Photonics volume 7, pages 752–758 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Emulation of the sensation of touch through high-resolution electronic means could become important in future generations of robotics and human–machine interfaces. Here, we demonstrate that a nanowire light-emitting diode-based pressure sensor array can map two-dimensional distributions of strain with an unprecedented spatial resolution of 2.7 µm, corresponding to a pixel density of 6,350 dpi. Each pixel is composed of a single n-ZnO nanowire/p-GaN light-emitting diode, the emission intensity of which depends on the local strain owing to the piezo-phototronic effect. A pressure map can be created by reading out, in parallel, the electroluminescent signal from all of the pixels with a time resolution of 90 ms. The device may represent a major step towards the digital imaging of mechanical signals by optical means, with potential applications in artificial skin, touchpad technology, personalized signatures, bio-imaging and optical microelectromechanical systems.

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Figure 1: Schematical device design and experimental approaches for imaging pressure distribution using the piezo-phototronic effect.
Figure 2: Proposed mechanism for enhanced light emission in a NW-LED by the piezo-phototronic effect.
Figure 3: Device fabrication.
Figure 4: Characterization of NW-LED arrays.
Figure 5: Enhanced light emission of NW-LEDs under compressive strain by the piezo-phototronic effect.
Figure 6: High-resolution parallel imaging of pressure/force distribution.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering (award no. DE-FG02-07ER46394), the National Science Foundation and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJCX2-YW-M13). The authors thank Yushen Zhou and Sihong Wang for cleanroom work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, 30332-0245, Georgia, USA

    Caofeng Pan, Lin Dong, Guang Zhu, Simiao Niu, Ruomeng Yu, Qing Yang, Ying Liu & Zhong Lin Wang

  2. Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    Caofeng Pan, Lin Dong & Zhong Lin Wang

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  1. Caofeng Pan
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  2. Lin Dong
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  3. Guang Zhu
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  6. Qing Yang
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  7. Ying Liu
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Contributions

C.F.P. and Z.L.W. conceived and designed the project. C.F.P., L.D., G.Z., S.M.N., R.M.Y., Q.Y. and Y.L. designed, constructed and tested the apparatus. C.F.P., L.D. and Z.L.W. acquired the data and performed the analysis and simulation. Z.L.W. and C.F.P contributed to the preparation of the manuscript. All authors contributed to editing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhong Lin Wang.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Pan, C., Dong, L., Zhu, G. et al. High-resolution electroluminescent imaging of pressure distribution using a piezoelectric nanowire LED array. Nature Photon 7, 752–758 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2013.191

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