Laser synthesized gold nanoparticles for high sensitive strain gauges

Date
2013-12-01
Authors
Burzhuev, S.
Dana, A.
Ortac, B.
Advisor
Instructor
Source Title
Sensors and Actuators A: Physical
Print ISSN
0924-4247
Electronic ISSN
Publisher
Elsevier
Volume
203
Issue
Pages
131 - 136
Language
English
Type
Article
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract

We demonstrate high strain sensitivity property of gold nanoparticle (Au-NP) thin films fabricated on flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates. This behavior is attributed to quantum tunneling effect that is highly dependent on nanoparticle separation. Au-NPs were synthesized in water by nanosecond laser ablation method. The clean surface providing high tunneling decay constant, size of the Au-NPs and Au-NPs aggregate clusters offer advantages for high sensitivity strain sensor. We prepared Au-NPs films on flexible PDMS substrate by using hands-on drop-cast method. To obtain high gauge factor (g factor), we investigated the nanoparticles concentration on the substrate. Laser-generated Au-NPs films demonstrated g factor of ∼300 for higher than 0.22% strain and ∼80 for the strain lower than 0.22% strain, which is favorably comparable to reported sensitivities for strain sensors based on Au-NPs. Mechanical characterizations for the prolonged working durations suggest long term stability of the strain sensors. We discuss several models describing conductance of films in low and high strain regimes.

Course
Other identifiers
Book Title
Keywords
Laser ablation, Gold nanoparticles, Gold nanoparticle films, Quantum tunneling effect, Strain gauges
Citation
Published Version (Please cite this version)