Printed Stretchable Single-Nanofiber Interconnections for Individually-Addressable Highly-Integrated Transparent Stretchable Field Effect Transistor Array

Abstract

Stretchable electronics have been spotlighted as promising next-generation electronics. In order to drive a specific unit device in an integrated stretchable device, the interconnection of the device should be placed in a desired position and addressed individually. In addition, practical stretchable interconnection requires reliable stretchability, high conductivity, optical transparency, high resolution, and fast and large-scale production. This study proposes an approach to meet these requirements. We print the single wavy polymer nanofibers (NFs) in a desired position and convert them into metal NF interconnections. The nanoscale diameter and the wavy cylindrical shape of the metal NFs are the main reasons for the reliable stretchability and the excellent transparency. Using the stretchable metal NFs and the stretchable organic semiconductor NFs, an array of all-stretchable transparent NF-field effect transistors (NF-FETs) is demonstrated. The highly integrated NF-FET array (10 FETs/mm(2)) shows uniform performance and good stability under repeated severe mechanical deformations.