Highly Linear and Stable Flexible Temperature Sensors Based on Laser-Induced Carbonization of Polyimide Substrates for Personal Mobile Monitoring

Wearable on-skin electronic devices that can monitor temperature in real time are of significant interest for personalized mobile health monitoring. Here, a flexible temperature sensor directly patterned by laser-induced carbonization on Kapton polyimide films integrated with flexible printed circuit boards is reported. The proposed sensor design possessing high resistance values exhibits high-linear and stable response to temperatures when integrated with flexible printed circuit boards (FPCBs) to enable continuous monitoring. The anisotropic conductive film bonding technique is used to obtain the stable real-time monitoring data under various complex environments. The sensor integration with a wearable patch based FPCB establishes conformal contacts with human skin and allows wireless sensing capabilities smoothly in real time. This kind of approach can enable multifunctional sensors to be directly laser patterned on FPCBs without any additional interfacing.