Specific sensors developed to date include ice detection, heat flux and shear stress. These sensors have not been built on a flexible substrate thus far. Surface micromachining techniques are used to fabricate the shear stress and heat-flux sensors. The heat-flux sensors use aluminum for electrical components and a polyamide for the flexible substrate. The operating temperature is limited to about 270 C Benefits Technology is based on silicon fabrication techniques which have been developed for the integrated circuit chip industry.
Batch fabrication yields low cost.
Flexible substrates allow applications on complex geometries with highly curved surfaces. Built-in electronics for signal processing allow a package to be used off the shelf without costly installation procedures. Reliability is high because the system integrates sensors and electronics in a pretested package. This technology is being commercialized by AMMi. The flexible substrate is an enabling technology which will benefit other industries which use the technology in their end products.