title: Wafer-scale design of lightweight and transparent electronics that wraps around hairs.
abstract: Electronics on very thin substrates have shown remarkable bendability, conformability and lightness, which are important attributes for biological tissues sensing, wearable or implantable devices. Here we propose a wafer-scale process scheme to realize ultra flexible, lightweight and transparent electronics on top of a 1-μm thick parylene film that is released from the carrier substrate after the dissolution in water of a polyvinyl- alcohol layer. The thin substrate ensures extreme flexibility, which is demonstrated by transistors that continue to work when wrapped around human hairs. In parallel, the use of amorphous oxide semiconductor and high-K dielectric enables the realization of analogue amplifiers operating at 12 V and above 1 MHz. Electronics can be transferred on any object, surface and on biological tissues like human skin and plant leaves. We foresee a potential application as smart contact lenses, covered with light, transparent and flexible devices, which could serve to monitor intraocular pressure for glaucoma disease.
authors.affiliation: 1] Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich 8092, Switzerland [2].
authors.forename: Giovanni A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Salvatore
authors.affiliation: 1] Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich 8092, Switzerland [2].
authors.forename: Niko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Münzenrieder
authors.affiliation: Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich 8092, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kinkeldei
authors.affiliation: Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich 8092, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Petti
authors.affiliation: Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich 8092, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zysset
authors.affiliation: Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich 8092, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Strebel
authors.affiliation: Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich 8092, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Büthe
authors.affiliation: Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich 8092, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tröster
mesh_terms: D004582:Electronics, Medical; D004867:Equipment Design; D018583:Pliability; D012666:Semiconductors; D012825:Silicon; D014173:Transistors, Electronic
chemical_list: D012825:Silicon