Stretchable Silicon May Inspire a New Wave of Electronics
June 13, 2007 By Laura Mgrdichian
Images of the stretchable silicon membrane (a,b,c) The membrane in the relaxed state before stretching in the horizontal, diagonal, and vertical directions, respectively (d,e,f) The membrane during stretching in these directions (g,h,i) The membrane at full stretch. Credit: John Rogers
Scientists have created a form of nanoscale silicon that is stretchable. The new material may help pave the way for a class of stretchable electronic devices, such as “smart” surgical gloves and personal health monitors, that are not possible to create using current technology and materials.
“Electronics that are bendable have many potential applications, but reversible stretchability is a different and much more technically challenging characteristic,” said corresponding researcher John Rogers, a materials scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), to PhysOrg.com.
Rogers and colleagues from UIUC and the University of Arizona created an ultra-thin silicon membrane from a silicon wafer and merged the membrane with a slab of a silicon-based polymer. The overall process involved several steps but, in short, the group first “pre-strained” the polymer slab, pulling it taut, before they topped it with the prepared silicon. When they released the strain the silicon buckled, resulting in a series of raised wavy ridges forming a herringbone-like pattern. The finished composite membrane is about 100 nanometers thick and can stretch biaxially – that is, in both the vertical and horizontal directions.
The group performed several stretching tests on the membrane by pulling it from various directions. Stretching it horizontally caused the herringbone pattern to straighten out. Stretching along the diagonal produced similar changes until, at full stretch, straight diagonal ridges formed. And stretching along the vertical direction – perpendicular to the waves – produced straight vertical ridges. In each case, the membrane recovered its original pattern when the strain was released.
These temporary stretching-induced structural changes occur primarily at the membrane’s central region. In its pre-stretched state, the herringbone pattern is far less pronounced at the membrane’s edges. There, the waves give way to fairly straight ridges, and thus the edge of the membrane does not have the elasticity of the central region. However, Rogers and his colleagues say that this could be an asset in certain applications. For example, a medical imaging system that is stretchable – able to conform to the contours of the human body to achieve more detailed images – might perform better if regions directly above the device’s photodetectors (which collect light reflecting from the object being imaged) are kept flat.
In their paper describing the work, in the May 8 online edition of Nano Letters, Rogers and his colleagues also discuss theoretical predictions of the membrane's behavior. They note that these predictions match their experimental observations, specifically in terms of the shape and dimensions of the waves. This theoretical component of the research, performed by UIUC scientist Young Huang, a co-author of the paper, is a significant result of their work.
Rogers and his group have previously produced structures with similar qualities: stretchy, ridged nanoribbons made of silicon and gallium arsenide. Other research groups have made circuit components consisting of stretchable metal wires connecting rigid islands. However, the nanoribbons are only stretchable lengthwise and the wire-island structures provide circuit-level stretchability rather than stretchable devices.
Citation: Won Mook Choi, Jizhou Song, Dahl-Young Khang, Hanqing Jiang, Yonggang Y. Huang, and John A. Rogers. “Biaxially Stretchable ‘Wavy’ Silicon Nanomembranes” Nano Lett., ASAP Article 10.1021/nl0706244 S1530-6984(07)00624-8
Copyright 2007 PhysOrg.com.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of PhysOrg.com.
-
Better than the human eye
Jan 17, 2011 |
4.2 / 5 (21) |
7
-
Stretchable silicon camera next step to artificial retina
Aug 06, 2008 |
4.8 / 5 (38) |
4
-
Researchers demonstrate a flexible, 1-step assembly of nanoscale structures
Jul 25, 2008 |
4.4 / 5 (10) |
1
-
New path to flex and stretch electronics: Researchers develop solution-based fabrication technique
Dec 13, 2011 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
-
Researchers create a smaller, flexible LED
Jun 20, 2011 |
4.8 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (30) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
-
Corrosion Tests on Magnesium
12 hours ago
-
polyethylene copper nanocomposite
17 hours ago
-
Output of xrd analysis
Feb 08, 2012
-
Transport phenomena problem based on problems 18.B11 and 19B.6 from Bird, stewart, lw
Feb 06, 2012
-
Help with material selection - Car Piston
Feb 05, 2012
-
Name of the steel alloy?!!?
Feb 02, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Materials & Chemical Engineering
More news stories
'Dark plasmons' transmit energy
Microscopic channels of gold nanoparticles have the ability to transmit electromagnetic energy that starts as light and propagates via "dark plasmons," according to researchers at Rice University.
8 hours ago |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
|
Nanotube therapy takes aim at breast cancer stem cells
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers have again proven that injecting multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into tumors and heating them with a quick, 30-second laser treatment can kill them.
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
13 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
|
Inspired by steel, nanomanufacturing gets wear-resistant carbide tip
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and IBM Research - Zurich have fabricated an ultrasharp silicon carbide tip possessing such high strength ...
18 hours ago |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
|
New technology platform for molecule-based electronics
Researchers at the Nano-Science Center at the University of Copenhagen have developed a new nano-technology platform for the development of molecule-based electronic components using the wonder material graphene. At the same ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
15 hours ago |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
Australians risking skin cancer to avoid nanoparticles
More than three in five Australians are concerned enough about the health implications of nanoparticles in sunscreens to want to know more about their impact. And while the initial scientific information released suggests ...
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
16 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
FDA-approved drug rapidly clears amyloid from the brain, reverses Alzheimer's symptoms in mice
Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have made a dramatic breakthrough in their efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. The researchers' findings, published in the journal Science, show t ...
Hydrogen from acidic water: Researchers develop potential low cost alternative to platinum for splitting water
A technique for creating a new molecule that structurally and chemically replicates the active part of the widely used industrial catalyst molybdenite has been developed by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley ...
Ultraviolet protection molecule in plants yields its secrets
Lying around in the sun all day is hazardous not just for humans but also for plants, which have no means of escape. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun can damage proteins and DNA inside cells, leading ...
Anyone can learn to be more inventive, cognitive researcher says
There will always be a wild and unpredictable quality to creativity and invention, says Anthony McCaffrey, a cognitive psychology researcher at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, because an "Aha moment" is rare and ...
Soraa LED light may dim 50-watt halogen rivals
(PhysOrg.com) -- Soraa, a Fremont, California company founded in 2008, this week launched its first product, a light that uses LEDS (light emitting diodes). The "Soraa LED MR16 lamp" is the "perfect" replacement ...
Flexible paper robots
(PhysOrg.com) -- These inexpensive robots can stretch, bend and twist under control, and lift objects up to 120 times their own weight. Being soft, they can apply gentle and even pressure, and adapt to varied ...