Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year. (2017-2018 to 2022-2023)

In recent years, printing technology has received significant interest for developing low-cost, large area electronic systems. Sensors have been one of the prominent areas of experimentation for printed electronic technology. Although the concept of printed sensors is not new, there are still significant challenges in developing high performance sensors with printed electronics technology. The key challenge is that the fabrication and performance of printed sensors depend very strongly on various fabrication parameters, such as material composition and process. Some of the other challenges are those that relate to the process throughput, trade-offs between cost and performance, large linewidth, poor reproducibility, and substrate distortion. If the challenges are not addressed, the performance issue will limit the commercial progress of printed sensors.
The long-term objective of this research is to develop innovative low-cost printed sensor technology solutions that will push the boundaries of cost and performance. To overcome the challenges in developing high performance low-cost printed sensors, this research program will aim to 1) design simple novel sensors, 2) implement them by varying materials and their composition, and printing processes, and 3) perform extensive studies along various parameters to understand the fundamental operations and performance limiting issues, and devise high performance sensors with low-cost. In pursuit of this goal, my research program will focus on three short objectives: 1) Design and apply novel printed acoustic sensors for environmental monitoring, 2) develop fully printed RLC (resistor inductor capacitor) resonators based wireless passive electronic nose (e-nose) for food quality monitoring, and 3) develop all printed electrochemical biosensors. This research program will contribute to the training of 4 PhD, 3 MEng and 3undergraduate students. It will give supported students the opportunity to develop important skills in printed electronics, microelectronics, and electronic materials area, all of which are skills necessary for any engineers performing work in the printed electronics area.
The research will be important to both academic and industry community working in sensors area. Sensors based on silicon micromachined based technology are still expensive to be deployed in everyday life of common people. Printed electronics is increasingly playing role in developing low-cost sensors. The proposed research program will ensure that the cost of printed sensors remain low while improving their performance. Furthermore, it will produce high quality and high impact research publications, effective industry engagements, and high value added services and commercial products in the field. In turn, it will bring advancement of research in printed sensors and Canadian Economy.