Piezoelectrically actuated vibrating flexible differential capacitances for electrostatic detection.

Space exploration requires reliable measurements of space-radiation induced charge or its electric potential in a wide range in a satellite. Here, we report one pair of 3D printed soft multilayer differential capacitors, which are piezoelectrically actuated in vibration to convert the input static DC charge (high electric potential) into a measurable small dynamic AC output signal through charging and discharging between two differential capacitors. The fabricated prototype features linear responses to a high potential change and also high reliability. Moreover, the method proposed in this work is promising to achieve rapid manufacturing of functional devices in batch processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]