Future of Engineering

Scientists have created ultra-thin electronic circuit boards that can be bent, stretched and folded. The new component boards could prove useful in wearable health monitors, surgical gloves and other applications in which they can be wrapped into unusual shapes such as body parts, aircraft wings or fuselages. They can hold components such as transistors, amplifiers and logic gates, and have similar electrical performance as traditional brittle silicon circuit boards.

Built from minute "nanoribbons" of silicon crystals and plastic, 50 of the new flexible boards stacked on top of each other would be approximately as thick as a human hair. The integrated circuit boards are made by bonding them to a layer of pre-strained silicone rubber. This process gives it a complex geometry that allows it to be folded and stretched in different directions without losing electrical conductivity. Details of the new invention were published in the journal Science.

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Keywords: ultra-thin electronic circuit boards, fuselages, transistors, amplifiers, logic gates, nanoribbons, silicon circuit boards, electrical conductivity, Prof Rogers

Labels: Electronics-Communications-Engineering