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Stretchable Electronics
- shaping electronic circuits Prof. Stphanie P. Lacour
Lab. For Soft Bioelectronic Interfaces, EPFL
stephanie.lacour@epfl.ch

What is stretchable electronics?

Video overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlEIvGzthsk

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Outline
Mechanical concepts
Materials
Examples of stretchable circuits

Todays electronic devices

flat
batch
processed

large-area

Si technology 18-in. wafer

Gen 10: 2850mmx3050mm (2010)

flexible

brittle

shattered iPhone

trigger foreign body reaction

Flex circuits

HP Flexible display

Circuits can roll and bend.

Cortical electrode at 1month post-implantation.

P. Tresco 2007

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Electronics with mechanical freedom

Infineon 2011
power electronics on
40m thick wafer
anything thin is flexible

University of Tokyo
2008
Tactile skin
Takao Someya et al.

UIUC 2011
Epidermal
electronics
John Rogers et al.

Samsung 2012
flexible OLED display

UIUC 2012
Transient
electronics
John Rogers et al.

Background Large Area Electronics

backplane / frontplane

Substrates: Glass
Device materials: thin films
Technology: planar, thin film processing
Applications: Flat Panel Displays (handheld devices,
phones, cameras, monitors, TVs), e-paper
Encapsulation: 1m 1mm thick
LCD, OLED Display layer
TFT layer: 1m thick
Glass carrier: 10m 1mm thick
display cross-section

circuit diagrams
R. Street Adv. Mat. 2009, 21, 1-16

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Background - Flexible Electronics

Substrates: Plastic or metallic foils
Device materials: thin and thick films
Technologies: planar thin-film processing, printing,
electro-plating, hybrid techniques
Applications: interconnects, sensors, RF ID tags,
rollable displays, cochlear implants,

Flexible Circuit Technology

J. Fjelstad , 2006, 214p.

RF ID tag

milFlexCircuit -3M

All printed TFT on plastic

PARC 2009

On curvatures
A

C
Gaussian curvature: K = 12
A saddle shape:
K<0
B cylinder shape:
K = 0 (1 = 0)
C spherical shape: K > 0

Electronic skin wrapped

over the fingers

foil coating

Electronic tent
Orange

E 10-100 kPa
skin

E 10 GPa
bone

K0

K0
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Materials enable applications

Biocompatible + Elastic + Electrically Active + Process compatible

Level of difficulty
Integration of materials with very different properties
Substrates: plastic, elastic
Devices: inorganic and/or organic transistors, diodes, sensors, antennas
Encapsulation: brittle/plastic composites, elastic
need new design rules that are applicable to all materials
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Pixellated approach
structural and physical mismatch
top view
elastic substrate
device

IC

device

IC

elastic wiring

device

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Architecture of stretchable circuitry

Pixellated structure
rigid platforms hosting devices

platforms do not deform

elastic wiring

elastic wiring
stretches

elastic substrate
no applied strain

2D stretched
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Wagner et al, Phys. E 2004; Lacour et al., Proc. IEEE 2006

Stretchable circuits
Stretchable thin-film transistor circuits
Vin#

Imperceptible electronics

2mm#

GND#

S. Wagner

Z. Suo

S. Lacour
T. Someya

load#TFT#
drive#
TFT#

S. Bauer

Nature 499 (2013)458

stretchable#
interconnects#
VDD#

Vout#

Graz et al APL 98 (2011)

Lacour et al IEEE EDL 25 (2005)

J. Rogers

Stretchable
microchip
circuits

J. Vanfleteren

Science 325 (2009)

Science 344 (2014)

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Key Mechanical Concepts

Deforming a surface
Stress/strain
Elasticity/plasticity
Mechanical failure

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Deforming a surface: Flexibility

Developable surfaces
surfaces that can be flattened onto a plane
without distortion

cone

flat
cylinder

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Deforming a surface: Stretchability

Deformable surfaces
Surfaces that can conform complex shapes
once or many times
Surfaces that can expand and relax reversibly

flat

stretched
inflated

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Mechanical stress and strain

Stress
stress ( ) =

load
(N / m2 or Pa)
area

Strain
strain ( ) =

change in length
L
=
100%
original length
L

tensile strain > 0; compressive strain < 0

Poisson ratio
=

y
x
=
; 0 < 0 .5
z
z
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Mechanical strain
strain ( ) =

change in length
L
=
100%
original length
L
tensile strain
>0

h/2

bend
h

R0
compressive strain
<0

surface bending strain = =

neutral
plane

h
2 R0

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Stress (strain) curve

elastic
plastic

unload

stress

tensile
strength

linear regime

E=

fracture

(Pa )

Youngs modulus

permanent deformation
strain
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Typical Stress(strain) curves

450

SiNx SiOx
Brittle (glass-like) materials
SiNx, SiO2, Si
High stress, low fracture strain

400
350

stress (MPa)

300

stainless steel

250
200

Plastic deformation
metals, stainless steel, polyimide
High stress, higher fracture strain

Si

150
metal

100

polyimide

50

rubber

strain (%)

0
0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

25

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Mechanical Failure
Brittle behaviour

Ductile behaviour

brittle

Semiconductors
Dielectrics
Metal oxides

ductile

Metals

stress

Crack propagates

Film necks

strain
Z. Suo, Harvard University,
http://www.seas.harvard.edu/suo/
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Materials for Stretchable Electronics

Substrates
Elastomers

Device materials
Brittle materials

Encapsulation Materials
Plastics or elastomers

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Selection of substrates
Application-dependent
RF ID tag OLED display implantable interface
PARC
flex photosensors

Physical form dependent

Lightweight conformable rollable stretchable

Polyonics

Manufacturing process dependent

Batch R2R
Holst Centre

LG Display

GlobalSolar

Michigan State Univ.

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Main substrate types for stretchable applications

Polymer substrates
flexible, optical transparency, rolls or spinable
poor thermo-mechanical stability, rough surface, not elastic

Elastomeric substrates
reversible stretchability, spinable, moldable
poor thermal stability thus process compatibility, chemical susceptibility

Biodegradable substrates
stiff enough for manipulation, degrades quickly
cannot process directly of these materials

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Plastic substrates
PolyEthylene Terephthalate (PET)
Thermoplastic polymer
Widely available
Low cost

Mylar

PolyEthylene Naphthalate (PEN)

Polyester polymer
More recent material
Very good barrier properties

Teonex

Polyimide (PI)
Thermoplastic
Very good thermal stability

Kapton

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Elastomeric substrates
Elastic polymers
Long polymer chains cross-link during curing

Covalent cross-linkage

Natural and synthetic materials

Rubber
Silicones, acrylics, polyurethanes
Biodegradable materials (silk, gels)

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PDMS Sylgard 184 Dow Corning

Polydimethylsiloxane

Preparation
Casting, spin-coating
Molding

Biocompatible grades

0 .8
0 .7
0 .6

s tre s s (MP a )

2-part polymer to mix in weight ratio

E = 0.5-3MPa, ~ 0.5
Coef. of thermal expansion:
CTE = 310ppm/C
Transparent
Dielectric constant: 2.65

0 .5
0 .4
0 .3
0 .2

E=2MPa

0 .1
0 .0
-0 .1

10

15

20

25

30

s tra in (% )

Silicon:
Glass:
Polyimide:

E = 160GPa
E = 70GPa
E = 3GPa
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Paper as a substrate
Packed cellulose fibers (+fillers)
Thickness range: 0.1mm
Light weight (10s g/m2)
Opaque to translucent
http://www.handprint.com/

Hygroscopic material
Good electrical insulator ( [1010 - 1014.cm]; 1.3-4 @ 1MHz)
Often coated with protective materials
R2R compatibility
Low-cost, recyclable, biodegradable

Tobjork et al Adv. Mat. 2011 23 1935

Zschieschang et al Adv. Mater. 2011 23 654

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Biodegradable substrate
From the drug-delivery field or natural materials

Thermoplastic polyesters PLGA, Ecoflex (BASF)

Potato/corn starch based materials
Caramelized glucose
Silk (water-soluble and enzymatically degradable)

PLGA degradation over time in vitro

Bettinger et al Adv. Mat. 2010 22 651
Irimia-Vladu et al Adv. Funct. Mater. 2010 20 4069

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Active device materials

1. Inorganic materials

materials from the microelectronics and MEMS fields

In thin film formats (<1m)
Direct growth or transfert-printing

2. Organic materials

Conjugated polymers and small molecules

Direct growth (but transfert-printing is also possible)

3. Newer materials

CNT, graphene, 2D materials

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Printing
Inkjet printing
Laser printing

www.spie.org

Contact printing

APL 2003 82 3, 463

Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.

1998, 37, 550-575.

http://www.aist.go.jp/aist_e/
latest_research/
2008/20080728/20080728.html

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Inorganic/organic brief comparison

Property

Silicon

Pentacene

Covalent bond

Molecular bond

Crystal symmetry

Single crystal form

Face-centered cubic

Amorphous, polycrystalline

Dimensionality
(electronic prop.)

isotropic

anisotropic

High temperature
High costs (epitaxy, etc.)

RT-low temperature
Low costs (spin-coating, evaporation)

Atomic bonding

Deposition techniques

silicon
a-Si:H

10-6

10-5

10-4

10-3

10-2

10-1

100

polycryst.

101

102

cryst.

103

organics

carrier mobility cm2/V.s

amorphous
films

polycristalline
films

Molecular crystals
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Thin is Flexible
1-atom thick materials
Carbon Nanotubes CNTs and Graphene

http://ipn2.epfl.ch/CHBU/NTbasics1.htm

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Biocompatible, biodegradable organic materials

semiconductors
dielectrics

substrate

Advanced Functional Materials, 2010, 20 4069

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Biodegradable, biocompatible inorganic materials

Mg, MgO, ZnO
Degrade in water or biofluids into
metal hydroxydes e.g. Mg(OH)2, Zn(OH)2

J. Rogers group, Small April 2013

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Liquid metals
Electrically conductive metallic fluid encapsulated in
microchannels

(Mercury)
EGaIn: 3.104S/cm
Low melting point: 17C
In elastic conduits

Patternable
Self-healing

Advanced Functional Materials, 23(18), 2308-2314

Advanced Functional Materials, March 2013

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Electrical Probing
Deported/stiffening contacts
stiffened contact

Contacts do not
deform
stretchable section
R. Carta et al. Sens. Act. A 2009 online

Compliant contacts
stretchable contact pads

5mm

Contacts stretch along

S.P. Lacour, EPFL

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Results from the lab. LSBI, EPFL

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Stretchable circuits
-1.2

relaxed!

IDS (A)!

-1

appl = 12.6%"

VGS = -60V!

-0.8
-0.6
-0.4

VGS = -40V!

-0.2

VGS = 0,-20V!
0
-60

stretched!

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

VDS (V)!

Applied Physics Letters, 2011, 98, 124101

Journal of Applied Physics, 2014, 115, 143511.

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The soft-to-hard challenge

PDMS"

stretched PDMS = 20%"

sharp peak strain"

>> 20%"

non deformable or stiff

layer"

stretched PDMS
PDMS" = 20%"

Cross-sections

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On uniform stretchable substrate

stretch

stretchable substrate

elastic interconnect

device island
before stretching
3 disk
Al2Al
O23Odisk

at 20% strain

after stretching

film
AuAu
film

Applied Physics Letters, 2013, 102, 131904

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Rigid embedded platforms

stretch

stretchable substrate

elastic interconnect

device island

embedded stiff platform

before stretching
Al2O
Al3 disk
O disk
2

at 20% strain

after stretching

Au Au
filmfilm

embedded
embedded
SU8
SU8
platform
platform

Applied Physics Letters, 2013, 102, 131904

SU8 in P-PDMS

Sloped SU8 in PDMS

SU8 in PDMS

UV Cr mask
Optimizing further

sample cross-section
D
100m

50m

S=4D
PDMS

SU8

D
d

100m

50m

S=4D
PDMS

SU8

G=2mm
D
G

100m

50m

S=4D
SU8

P-PDMS

A. Romeo et al. Proc. of the SPIE 2014 (in print)

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Engineered Substrate- Strain Profile

A. Romeo et al. Proc. of the SPIE 2014 (in print)

Conformable and stretchable transducers

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Summary & Outlook

Stretchable electronics
new combinations of very different materials
Micro/nanofabricated electronic circuits embedded in
ultra-compliant matrices
Design of the enabling mechanical architecture for
stretchable circuitry
Strain in semiconductors < 0.3%
Elastic interconnects; devices on rigid platforms

An opportunity and many remaining challenges

Exploring the science and technology for biomimetic
man-made interfaces.
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Acknowledgment

Laboratory for Soft Bioelectronic Interfaces, EPFL

Ivan Minev, Katherine Musick, Tero Kulmala, Aaron Gerrat, Swati Gupta
Cdric Paulou, Amlie Guex, Alessia Romeo, Arthur Hirsch, Hadrien Michaud

Zhigang Suos lab, Harvard University

Qihan Liu

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