Transducing mechanical force by use of a diffraction grating sensor

A novel means of transducing mechanical force by using a polymeric-based diffractive grating sensor is presented. The diffraction gratings are successfully fabricated upon poly(dimethyl siloxane) polymer substrates by holographic interference and micromolding. A micromaterial tensile test incorporated into the surface diffraction grating experiment showed that a relationship between the load and the observed diffraction-pattern shift could be obtained. The results show an excellent correlation between the optical measurement and load, with a sensitivity of 0.05 N.