Piezoresistive Ceramic Composite for Small Force Sensor

Abstract

The authors have been developing a novel ceramic composite which has both the force sensing function and structural strength by distributing an oxide material, (La,Sr)MnO3 which exhibits piezoresistivity in a high-strength ceramic, ZrO2. As this composite enables the structural member itself to become a sensor, the size of the force sensor can be remarkedly reduced. As for a sensor, small temperature dependency is required. In this paper, the temperature dependency of the material is reduced by controlling the composition of (La,Sr)MnO3.