Study of charged object sensing properties via an organic nanobelt

A flexible wearable electronic skin (e-skin) that is able to sense non-touch objects is strongly required for the improvement and advancement of next-generation high-performance sensing systems. Here, a facile two-terminal organic device is employed for studying the sensing properties of charged objects including proximity and contact stimuli. By adjusting the amount of charges on the stimuli, the sensing response of the organic device was confirmed to rely on the charge quantity of stimuli rather than the applied pressure. In addition, the carrier concentration in the organic semiconductor is effectively accumulated or depleted, depending on the carrier type in the semiconductor and the polarity of voltage at the atomic force microscope (AFM) tip. These results show a potential application in ultrahigh-precision automatic operation, for example, humanoid robots to sensitively detect and safely grab a charged-object without damage. • The flexible organic sensor applies the two-terminal device configuration. • The sensing characteristics of charged objects are studied by organic nanobelt sensor. • The organic semiconductor sensor can sense both proximity and contact stimuli. • The amount of charges on the stimuli is used to confirm the sensing mechanism. • The flexible sensor can identify the majority carrier type in semiconductor materials.