Professor Takao Someya, together with Associate Professor Tomoyuki Yokota of the Graduate School of Engineering and others, has successfully developed a flexible multimodal sensor capable of detecting both light intensity and strain using a single sensor. By combining an organic photodetector (OPD) with an elastic substrate, a regular wrinkled structure was formed on the OPD; by measuring the OPD’s short-circuit current and open-circuit voltage, it became possible to estimate both light intensity and strain using a single sensor. Conventional stretchable OPDs suffer from issues such as a loss of spatial resolution when stretched, as the sensor’s light-receiving position shifts relative to the target object. To correct such image distortions, it was previously necessary to integrate a separate, external strain sensor. This achievement is expected to lead to future applications in stretchable electronics, such as in healthcare and robotic electronic skin. The paper detailing these findings was published online on July 7 in the U.S. scientific journal “Science Advances”.
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