Chromotropic Photonic Electronic Skin with Synergistic Visual-Digital Outputs for Dual-Axis Strain Sensing

At present, wearable electronic devices mainly respond to a single electrical signal and lack direct visual feedback, which restricts their diverse applications in interactive human-machine interfaces. Here, we propose a bioinspired photonic-electronic synergistic sensing platform via heterostructure integration, which achieves a synergistic response of photoelectric dual signals. Sensors control the changes in electrical and optical signals by constructing a conductive network and modulating the photonic lattice spacing. Sensors can sense stress in different directions. For lateral tension, electrical and optical signals always maintain synchronous output within the strain range of 0–60%. At this time, the sensitivity of the optical signal is 1.43 nm% –1, and the sensitivity coefficient of the electrical signal is 14.16. For normal stress, sensors also exhibit good photoelectric synergy under bending strain and visualize the pressure field through the structural color gradient distribution under compressive strain. In addition, after 2000 fatigue tests, the signal still outputs stably. Based on these merits, sensors are considered simple visual interactive wearable devices for real-time monitoring of human motion. The stable dual signal response output provides a universal platform for the visual interaction of electronic devices.