Optimization Strategies for Laser-Induced Graphene on Various Substrates for Flexible Strain Sensing

The need for flexible sensors arises from their ability to conform to irregular surfaces, making them valuable for applications like wearable health monitoring and flexible electronics. Laser-induced graphene (LIG) is important because it offers a cost-effective and scalable method to produce such flexible sensors. LIG sensors are lightweight, durable, and can be integrated into a variety of applications, including healthcare, environmental monitoring, and industrial sensing. In this paper, a detailed optimization study for LIG on a flexible polyimide substate is presented. The quality of LIG is observed to depend strongly on the % laser power and scan speed, as well as on the thickness of the substrate. For polyimide substrates(75$\mu$m), 100-180mm/sec scan speeds and 25-35% laser power show the best results. The optimization process can be extended to different substrates such as Kapton, wood, Kevlar, SU-8, etc.