title: Screen-Printing Fabrication and Characterization of Stretchable Electronics.
abstract: This article focuses on the fabrication and characterization of stretchable interconnects for wearable electronics applications. Interconnects were screen-printed with a stretchable silver-polymer composite ink on 50-μm thick thermoplastic polyurethane. The initial sheet resistances of the manufactured interconnects were an average of 36.2 mΩ/◽, and half the manufactured samples withstood single strains of up to 74%. The strain proportionality of resistance is discussed, and a regression model is introduced. Cycling strain increased resistance. However, the resistances here were almost fully reversible, and this recovery was time-dependent. Normalized resistances to 10%, 15%, and 20% cyclic strains stabilized at 1.3, 1.4, and 1.7. We also tested the validity of our model for radio-frequency applications through characterization of a stretchable radio-frequency identification tag.
authors.affiliation: Tampere University of Technology, Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, Tampere, Korkeakoulunkatu 3, FI33720, Finland.
authors.forename: Jari
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suikkola
authors.affiliation: Tampere University of Technology, Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, Tampere, Korkeakoulunkatu 3, FI33720, Finland.
authors.forename: Toni
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Björninen
authors.affiliation: Tampere University of Technology, Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, Tampere, Korkeakoulunkatu 3, FI33720, Finland.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mosallaei
authors.affiliation: Tampere University of Technology, Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, Tampere, Korkeakoulunkatu 3, FI33720, Finland.
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kankkunen
authors.affiliation: Tampere University of Technology, Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, Tampere, Korkeakoulunkatu 3, FI33720, Finland.
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Iso-Ketola
authors.affiliation: Tampere University of Technology, Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, Tampere, Korkeakoulunkatu 3, FI33720, Finland.
authors.forename: Leena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ukkonen
authors.affiliation: Tampere University of Technology, Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, Tampere, Korkeakoulunkatu 3, FI33720, Finland.
authors.forename: Jukka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vanhala
authors.affiliation: Tampere University of Technology, Department of Electronics and Communications Engineering, Tampere, Korkeakoulunkatu 3, FI33720, Finland.
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mäntysalo