Stretchable Electronics Using Boustrophedonic Interconnects
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current stretchable electronics are limited in their ability to accommodate extreme stretchability, which restricts their application in mechanically unconstrained environments.
Innovation Solution
The development of extremely stretchable electrical interconnects using thin membrane single crystal semiconductors formed into 'islands' connected by highly compliant interconnects, which are transferred onto an elastomeric substrate, allowing for high translational and rotational strains while maintaining electrical performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If single crystal semiconductor materials are used for IC fabrication, then high electrical performance is achieved, but the materials become brittle and cannot withstand strains greater than about ±2%
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the electronic device into discrete device islands that are mechanically isolated from each other by compliant interconnects. This segmentation allows the rigid semiconductor islands to maintain their electrical performance while the flexible interconnects absorb mechanical strain, resolving the contradiction between electrical reliability and strain tolerance.
Solution Approach 2:
Compliant interconnects serve as intermediary elements between the rigid device islands and the elastomeric substrate. These interconnects act as a buffer that decouples the mechanical constraints of the substrate from the electrical components, allowing the semiconductor materials to maintain their brittleness while the overall system achieves high strain tolerance.
2Reliability
If rigid interconnects are used to connect device islands, then electrical connections are stable, but the device cannot accommodate extreme stretchability
Solution Approach 1:
The interconnects are designed with dynamic compliance, allowing them to deform elastically under strain while maintaining electrical connectivity. This dynamic behavior enables the system to transition from a rigid configuration to a stretched configuration, achieving both connection stability and extreme stretchability.
Solution Approach 2:
The compliant interconnects are implemented as thin, flexible conductive structures that can bend and stretch without breaking. These flexible interconnects replace traditional rigid traces, enabling the device to accommodate extreme deformations while maintaining stable electrical connections between device islands.
3Adaptability or versatility
If thin membrane single crystal semiconductors are formed into islands and transferred onto elastomeric substrates, then extreme stretchability is achieved, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
Device islands are fabricated on rigid substrates using conventional semiconductor manufacturing processes before being transferred to the elastomeric substrate. This preliminary fabrication on a stable platform simplifies the manufacturing process by separating the high-precision semiconductor fabrication from the flexible substrate integration, reducing overall process complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
A transfer substrate serves as an intermediary platform that facilitates the movement of device islands from the fabrication environment to the final elastomeric substrate. This intermediary step enables the use of standard semiconductor manufacturing equipment while achieving the final flexible configuration, thereby managing manufacturing complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables electronics to withstand strains of up to ±100,000% and rotational strains greater than 180°, maintaining electrical integrity and functionality, thereby expanding the range of applications for stretchable electronics.
Implementation Method 1
The underlying elastomeric substrate is much more compliant than the islands, so that minimal strain is transferred into the islands while the majority of the strain is transferred to the interconnects
Data Source
AI summary
In embodiments, the present invention may attach at least two isolated electronic components to an elastomeric substrate, and arrange an electrical interconnection between the components in a boustrophedonic pattern interconnecting the two isolated electronic components with the electrical interconnection. The elastomeric substrate may then be stretched such that the components separate relative to one another, where the electrical interconnection maintains substantially identical electrical performance characteristics during stretching, and where the stretching may extend the separation distance between the electrical components to many times that of the unstretched distance.