Novel Optical Metrology Tool for Thin Film Haptic Sensor Technologies

新型显示技术越来越多地使用触觉材料，这些材料允许多功能性能，包括机械反馈、热或光学、粗糙度或其他表面控制。有一系列令人兴奋的新材料和材料结构/系统正在考虑用于下一代触摸屏，其结合了对压力、温度、触摸的触觉风格反馈，以便为用户提供更积极和有益的响应。这些"活性"材料通常基于压电聚合物、薄膜压电体和量子隧穿复合材料。当这些材料受到应力时，它们会产生有用的电流，当施加电压时，它们会产生有价值的形状变化。这些新技术推广的一个重要障碍是缺乏高活性材料，这些材料的可靠性和均匀性较差，当这些材料在小长度尺度上加工和处理时，这一点变得非常重要。由于活性材料集成在触摸屏、水听器或能量收集模块等所需的更加复杂的设计中，因此必须能够对这些活性元件的完整3D体积进行建模。目前还没有工业上可扩展的测量工具，可以准确地评估这些活性材料的3D体积的重要物理特性。在本提案中，我们的目标是通过开发并商业化一种新的测量工具来解决这一障碍，该工具已被证明在欧洲计量研究项目（2020-ADVENT）之后原则上有效。相当大的风险仍然存在，因为我们不确定我们的全光学探头是否可以与一种新的询问方法结合使用，这种方法可以快速准确地评估材料的性能、可靠性、均匀性和整个材料的3D体积的功能特性。这样的工具将是革命性的，在评估功能材料的这些和许多其他应用，其中2 - 1/2D到3D的响应/反馈是期望的。没有其他工具可以实现这样的解决方案，如果该提案获得批准，并且技术研发证明成功，Electrosciences Ltd将迅速将新产品商业化。新工具将加快新材料，成分和系统开发周期，从而降低成本，因为可以直接将材料与功能联系起来，获得准确和可追溯的测量数据（例如，感测、致动、换能）到新设备内的集成设计。这就是该项目将如何支持英国供应链支持触觉和触摸屏技术，水听器和新兴的能源收集部门。

Novel display technologies increasingly use haptic materials that permit multifunctional performance that includes mechanical feedback, thermal or optical, roughness or other surface control. There is an exciting range of new materials and materials structures/systems that are being considered for next generation touch screens incorporating haptic style feedback to pressure, temperature, touch for a more positive and rewarding response for the user. These 'active' materials are often based on piezoelectric polymers, thin film piezoelectrics and quantum tunnelling composites. When these materials are stressed, they produce useful electrical currents and when a voltage is applied to them then they produce valuable changes in shape.One significant barrier to the roll-out of such new technologies is the lack of high activity material suffering from poor reliability and poor uniformity, which becomes really important when those materials are machined and processed at small length scales. As the active materials are integrated within ever more complex designs needed for e.g. touch screens, hydrophones or energy harvesting modules, it becomes imperative to be able to characterise the full 3D volume of those active elements. There are currently no industrially scalable measurement tools which can accurately assess important physical properties from a 3D volume of these active materials.In this proposal we aim to address this barrier by developing and then commercialising a new measurement tool which has been shown to work in principle following a European Metrology Research Project (2020-ADVENT). Considerable risk still exists because we are unsure if our all-optical probe can be used in conjunction with a new interrogation methodology which would permit rapid and accurate assessment of materials performance, reliability, uniformity and functional properties throughout the 3D volume of the material. Such a tool would be revolutionary in assessing functional materials for these and many other applications where a 2-1/2D to 3D response/feedback is desired. There are no other tools that can accomplish such a solution and Electrosciences Ltd will rapidly commercialise the new product, should this proposal be awarded, and the technical R&D prove successful.The new tool would accelerate new materials, compositions and systems development cycles, and hence reduce costs, because accurate and traceable measurement data would be available directly linking material to function (e.g. sensing, actuation, transduction) through to integrated design within the new devices. This is how this project would support the UK supply chain supporting haptics and touch screen technologies, hydrophone and the emerging energy harvesting sectors.