Liquid polyimide as a substrate for aeronautical sensor systems

Martin Schwerter; Lars Hecht; Eugen Viktor Koch; Monika Leester-Schädel; Stephanus Büttgenbach; Andreas Dietzel

doi:10.1117/12.2084028

27 March 2015 Liquid polyimide as a substrate for aeronautical sensor systems

Martin Schwerter, Lars Hecht, Eugen Viktor Koch, Monika Leester-Schädel, Stephanus Büttgenbach, Andreas Dietzel

Proceedings Volume 9435, Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2015; 94352Y (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2084028
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2015, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Using more and more controlled systems in future aircraft the need of flexible sensors to be applied on curved aircraft structures increases. An appropriate substrate material for such flexible sensors is polyimide, which is available both as ready-made foil and as liquid polyimide to be spun-on. Latest results in producing and processing of polyimide layers with a thickness of down to 1 μm including designs for thin foil sensors are presented respectively. The successful processing of liquid polyimide is outlined first including the spin-on procedure, soft bake and curing for polymerization. Parameters for spin-on volume and rotation speed on glass substrates along with a comparison with ordinary polyimide foil are presented. High-precision structuring of the polyimide layer is performed either by etching (wet-etching as well as dry etching in a barrel etcher) or ablative removal using a femtosecond laser. In combination with a layer of silicon nitride as an inorganic diffusion barrier a reliable protection for water tunnel experiments can be realized. The fabrication of a protection layer and test results in water with protected sensors are presented. The design of a hot-film anemometric sensor array made on spin-on polyimide is demonstrated. With a thickness of down to 7 μm the sensors can be applied on the surface of wind tunnel models and water tunnel models without impacting the flow substantially. Additionally both the concept and recent results of a silicon sensor integrated in a polyimide foil substrate that can measure pressure as a complementary measurand for aeronautics are illustrated.

Citation Download Citation

Martin Schwerter, Lars Hecht, Eugen Viktor Koch, Monika Leester-Schädel, Stephanus Büttgenbach, and Andreas Dietzel "Liquid polyimide as a substrate for aeronautical sensor systems", Proc. SPIE 9435, Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2015, 94352Y (27 March 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2084028

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