Polymer micromachining technologies for a table-shaped tactile sensor using thick sacrificial layer

This paper describes fabrication of a slim and flexible tactile sensor which has a three-dimensional table-shaped sensing part to equip intelligent robot’s finger tips. To fabricate a three-dimensional structure of full polymer-based sensor, we propose a new fabrication method in polymer micromachining technologies such as thermo-compatible layer-by-layer process and thick sacrificial layer without wet or dry etching process. Three-dimensional structure patterning of up to 60-μm thickness was achieved by using a photo-definable lithography process with a photoresist material as a thick sacrificial layer. All processes were designed considering process-compatibility and a low process temperature of below 110 °C. These strategies were possible to make low-cost sensor with robust structure through the simplification of conventional micromachining process steps for economical fabrication.