Intrinsically Stretchable Temperature Sensor Based on Organic Thin-Film Transistors

Achieving reliable electrical performance with stretchability and conformability is a key issue for wearable electronics. In this letter, we demonstrate an intrinsically stretchable temperature sensor element based on organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). The OTFTs were characterized with respect to their temperature and strain dependence, and subsequently evaluated using differential readout circuit schemes. We considered two circuit variants to accommodate OTFTs with nominally positive or negative threshold voltages. Due to the strain suppression afforded by the differential readout, the intrinsically stretchable temperature sensor element achieves an inaccuracy within 1 °C with uniaxial strains from 0-30 %.