Metal oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors for flexible electronics

The field of flexible electronics has rapidly expanded over the last decades, pioneering novel applications, such as wearable and textile integrated devices, seamless and embedded patch-like systems, soft electronic skins, as well as imperceptible and transient implants. The possibility to revolutionize our daily life with such disruptive appliances has fueled the quest for electronic devices which yield good electrical and mechanical performance and are at the same time light-weight, transparent, conformable, stretchable, and even biodegradable. Flexible metal oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors (TFTs) can fulfill all these requirements and are therefore considered the most promising technology for tomorrow's electronics. This review reflects the establishment of flexible metal oxide semiconductor TFTs, from the development of single devices, large-area circuits, up to entirely integrated systems. First, an introduction on metal oxide semiconductor TFTs is given, where the history of the field is revisited, the TFT configurations and operating principles are presented, and the main issues and technological challenges faced in the area are analyzed. Then, the recent advances achieved for flexible n-type metal oxide semiconductor TFTs manufactured by physical vapor deposition methods and solution-processing techniques are summarized. In particular, the ability of flexible metal oxide semiconductor TFTs to combine low temperature fabrication, high carrier mobility, large frequency operation, extreme mechanical bendability, together with transparency, conformability, stretchability, and water dissolubility is shown. Afterward, a detailed analysis of the most promising metal oxide semiconducting materials developed to realize the state-of-the-art flexible p-type TFTs is given. Next, the recent progresses obtained for flexible metal oxide semiconductor-based electronic circuits, realized with both unipolar and complementary technology, are reported. In particular, the realization of large-area digital circuitry like flexible near field communication tags and analog integrated circuits such as bendable operational amplifiers is presented. The last topic of this review is devoted for emerging flexible electronic systems, from foldable displays, power transmission elements to integrated systems for large-area sensing and data storage and transmission. Finally, the conclusions are drawn and an outlook over the field with a prediction for the future is provided

Exploring the design of interactive smart textiles for emotion regulation

The present study aims to investigate the design of interactive textiles for emotion regulation. In this work we proposed a design which allows users to visualize their physiological data and help regulate their emotions. We used the Research through Design method to explore how physiological data could be represented in four different interactive textiles and how movement-based interaction could be designed to support users’ understanding and regulation of their emotional state. After an initial user interview evaluation with several textile prototypes, light and vibration were selected as modalities within the biofeedback-based interaction. A smart interactive shawl that reacts to changes in emotional arousal was designed to help the users know their emotion and adjust it, if necessary, with the support of electrodermal activity sensor and pressure-based sensors. The results of the second study showed that the smart shawl could help the user to visualize their emotions and reduce their stress level by interacting with it. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Multifunctional graphene woven fabrics

Tailoring and assembling graphene into functional macrostructures with well-defined configuration are key for many promising applications. We report on a graphene-based woven fabric (GWF) prepared by interlacing two sets of graphene micron-ribbons where the ribbons pass each other essentially at right angles. By using a woven copper mesh as the template, the GWF grown from chemical vapour deposition retains the network configuration of the copper mesh. Embedded into polymer matrices, it has significant flexibility and strength gains compared with CVD grown graphene films. The GWFs display both good dimensional stability in both the warp and the weft directions and the combination of film transparency and conductivity could be optimized by tuning the ribbon packing density. The GWF creates a platform to integrate a large variety of applications, e.g., composites, strain sensors and solar cells, by taking advantages of the special structure and properties of graphene

Modelling of layered cylindrical dielectric resonators with reference to whispering gallery mode resonators

Thesis (MScEng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Keywords: Dielectric Resonators, Radial Mode Matching, Whispering Gallery Modes The aim of this investigation was to develop accurate modelling techniques to determine the resonant frequencies of dielectric resonators. These resonators could be simple dielectric posts, rings or combinations of these two. To do this, a radial mode matching technique was implemented and applied to a post resonator, a ring resonator and finally a combination of the two. The resulting method was used to develop a model of a high-Q whispering gallery mode resonator consisting of a post and a ring resonator combination with an spurious free region region.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sleutelwoorde Dielektriese Resoneerders, Radiale Modale-Pas Tegniek, 'Whispering Gallery' Modus Die doel van hierdie navorsing was om 'n akkurate tegniek te ontwikkelom die resonante frekwensie van 'n dielektriese resoneerder vas te stel. Hierdie resoneerders kon eenvoudige resoneerders, ring resoneerders of kombinasies van die twee wees. 'n Radiale Modale-Pas tegniek is vir hierdie doel geïmplementeer en is op 'n eenvoudige resoneerder, 'n ring-resoneerder en kombinasies van die twee toegepas. Hierdie tegniek is dan gebruik om 'n hoë-Q resoneerder te ontwerp wat gebruik maak van 'n 'whispering gallery' modus. In hierdie geval is die resoneerder 'n kombinasie van 'n pil en 'n ring-resoneerder

Crack prevention of highly bent metal thin films in woven electronic textiles

Recent smart textile fabrication methods that are aimed at increasing the integration of electronics with textiles have involved fabricating micro-electronic components directly at the yarn level. Our approach to creating smart textiles is to fabricate thin-film devices and interconnects on plastic strips to create ‘e-fibers’ and weave them into a textile using a commercial weaving machine. e-Fibers are exposed to bending radii as small as 165 μm during weaving. If patterned interconnect lines and device layers on the surface of the e-fiber are not designed correctly, they will crack due to the high strain and lose their electronic functionality. Brittle sensor and transistor device layers may be protected locally using rigid encapsulation materials, but cracking remains an issue for long metal interconnect lines which require flexibility. We investigated two strain-control methods to prevent the thin-film interconnect lines from cracking during weaving: (1) patterning the metal interconnect lines with a geometric design to slow propagation and merging of cracks and (2) encapsulation of interconnect lines to shift the deposited films to the neutral plain of the substrate. The mechanical behavior of interconnect lines exposed to tensile bending was studied by measuring the change in interconnect resistance versus bending radii ranging from 5 mm to 50 μm. The critical bending radius, XC, defined as the radius at which the normalized interconnect resistance changes to 1.1 (indicating the onset of film rupturing) was 150 μm for standard interconnect lines. Patterned interconnect lines had a radius XC of 115 μm while encapsulated interconnect lines never reached this critical bending radius and showed a maximum resistance change of 1.02 at 100 μm. These results show that it is possible to design interconnect lines with reduced cracking behavior when exposed to high strain during commercial weaving

Encapsulation for flexible electronic devices

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Integration method for electronics in woven textiles

This paper presents a technology to integrate electronics at the thread level in woven textiles. Flexible plastic substrates are cut into stripes and serve as carriers for electronics, including ICs, thin-film devices, interconnect lines, and contact pads. These functionalized plastic stripes, called e-stripes, are woven into textiles. Conductive threads perpendicular to the e-stripes electrically interconnect the devices on the individual e-stripes. The integration of e-stripes and conductive threads into the woven textiles is compatible with commercial weaving processes and suitable for large-scale manufacturing. We demonstrate the technology with a woven textile containing five e-stripes with digital temperature sensors. Conductive threads interconnect the e-stripes among each other to form a bus topology. We show that the contacts between the conductive threads and the pads on e-stripes as well as the contacts between the temperature sensors and e-stripes withstand shear forces of at least 20 N. The integration of the temperature sensors into the textile increases the bending rigidity of the textile by 30%; however, it is still possible to obtain a textile-bending radii of <;1 mm. This technology seamlessly integrates electronics into textiles, thus advancing the field of smart textiles and wearable computing