Hand-Drawn Resistors, Capacitors, Diodes, and Circuits for a Pressure Sensor System on Paper

Hand-written fabrication techniques offer new ways of developing customizable, biodegradable and low-cost electronic systems. In this work, a new level of complexity is demonstrated for hand-written electronics by fabricating passive components, circuits and a sensorsystem on paper. The system comprises a pencil-written graphite force-sensitive-resistor, a pencil-drawn RC-filter, a pen-written half-wave rectifier, and a commercial front-end voltage amplifier. The sensor system exhibits a linear response for pressures up to 1.2 kPa, and a sensitivity of 51 mV kPa-1 . Furthermore, the electrical and mechanical performance of the single components and circuits is studied. Diodes fabricated through pen-written deposition of silver and nickel contacts on amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide coated paper show rectification ratios up to 1:8. Tensile and compressive bending measurements applied to all pencil-written components for radii down to 0.1 mm indicate minor influence of strain. Similar results are obtained for circuits created from these individual components. Diodes and half-wave rectifiers show a stable behavior when bent to a radius of 5 mm. The presented techniques can enable the development of flexible and eco-friendly wearables and sensors for consumer and healthcare applications, and are an effective way for school-pupils to explore the world of electronics.