Use Case 6 – Metal Mesh Projected-Capacitive Touch Screens Simulated with Fieldscale SENSE

May 2, 2017

Projected-capacitive touch sensors are extensively used today in portable devices, such as smartphones and tablets. The usage in industrial and automotive applications is growing due to their major advantages.

Mutual-capacitive touch sensors (instead of self-capacitive ones) are more often used as they offer:

1. real-time detection of multiple touches
2. higher resolution
3. less vulnerability to electromagnetic interference.

Conclusions

1. Simulations with Fieldscale SENSE show that metal mesh density (line width and line pitch dimensions) has a great impact on the performance of p-cap touch sensors.
2. As metal mesh becomes more coarse:
   1. optical transmission increases.
   2. ΔCm/Cm0 increases: the touch sensor becomes more sensitive
   3. but RC constant increases: the touch sensor has slower response.