PROCEEDINGS ARTICLE | November 7, 2007
Proc. SPIE. 6739, Electro-Optical Remote Sensing, Detection, and Photonic Technologies and Their Applications
KEYWORDS: Thin films, Light sources, Optical sensors, Sensors, Organic light emitting diodes, Polymers, Photodiodes, Printing, Thin film devices, Polymeric sensors
Monitoring of personal wellbeing and optimizing human performance are areas where sensors have only begun
to be used. One of the reasons for this is the specific demands that these application areas put on the underlying
technology and system properties. In many cases these sensors will be integrated in clothing, be worn on the skin,
or may even be placed inside the body. This implies that flexibility and wearability of the systems is essential for
their success. Devices based on polymer semiconductors allow for these demands since they can be fabricated
with thin film technology. The use of thin film device technology allows for the fabrication of very thin sensors
(e.g. integrated in food product packaging), flexible or bendable sensors in wearables, large area/distributed
sensors, and intrinsically low-cost applications in disposable products. With thin film device technology a high
level of integration can be achieved with parts that analyze signals, process and store data, and interact over a
network. Integration of all these functions will inherently lead to better cost/performance ratios, especially if
printing and other standard polymer technology such as high precision moulding is applied for the fabrication.
In this paper we present an optical transmission sensor array based on polymer semiconductor devices made by
thin film technology. The organic devices, light emitting diodes, photodiodes and selective medium chip, are
integrated with classic electronic components. Together they form a versatile sensor platform that allows for the
quantitative measurement of 100 channels and communicates wireless with a computer. The emphasis is given
to the sensor principle, the design, fabrication technology and integration of the thin film devices.
