Design of Reduced Graphene Oxide Based Piezo-Resistive Type Acoustic Sensor on Flexible Kapton for Underwater Applications

Abstract

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) vector sensor is a recent advancement in the field of underwater acoustic sensors. The major incentive provided by this acoustic vector sensor is that it provides information about the direction of the incoming acoustic source signal in addition to the measurement of the pressure associated with the acoustic signal. We are reporting a design of a MEMS acoustic vector sensor for underwater applications using piezoresistive film of Reduced Graphine Oxide (RGO), realized on kapton (polyimide) film as the starting material. The sensor is designed and fabricated by deposition of RGO on a kapton, which is a flexible substrate by the method of drop casting making the process simple, low-cost and scalable. The application of the piezoresistive transduction principle and ingenious structure of the vector sensor based on bionic principle improves miniaturization and the low-frequency sensitivity. The fabricated sensor shows a repeatable response in both static and dynamic conditions, to the applied strain due to the acoustic signal in a given direction. The experimental results show that fabricated sensor based on MEMS technology and piezoresistive effect is feasible and it possesses intrinsic two-dimensional directivity. The fabricated device has given good response for the low-frequency acoustic signals due to the effect of piezoresistive transduction principle and the resonance frequency of the device is found to be around 80 Hz with the displacement sensitivity around 3 mV/mm and 2 mV/mm of X and Y axis directions respectively.