Flexible Electronics: Materials and Applications

I-Chun Cheng, Sigurd Wagner (auth.), Alberto Salleo, William S. Wong (eds.)0387743626, 9780387743622, 9780387743639

Flexible Electronics: Materials and Applications surveys the materials systems and processes that are used to fabricate devices that can be employed in a wide variety of applications, including flexible flat-panel displays, medical image sensors, photovoltaics, and electronic paper. Materials discussed range from polymeric semiconductors to nanotube transparent conductors, and the important characteristics of each system and their target applications are highlighted. An overview of the performance benchmarks for the different materials is given in order to allow a direct comparison of these different technologies. Furthermore, the devices and processes most suitable for given applications in flexible electronics are identified.

Topics include:

An overview and history of flexible electronics

Low-temperature processing and device integration on flexible substrates

Solution-processable thin-film electronic devices and their properties

Materials and device physics relevant to flexible electronics

Mechanical and electrical characteristics of nano-scale materials on flexible platforms

Printing and roll-to-roll processing for large-area electronics manufacturing

Applications towards flexible displays, sensors, actuators, photovoltaics, radio-frequency identification, and micro-electro-mechanical systems

Written by leading researchers in the field, Flexible Electronics: Materials and Applications serves as a reference for researchers, engineers, and students interested in the characteristics, capabilities, and limitations of these exciting materials and emerging applications.

Table of contents :
Front Matter….Pages i-xviii
Overview of Flexible Electronics Technology….Pages 1-28
Mechanical Theory of the Film-on-Substrate-Foil Structure: Curvature and Overlay Alignment in Amorphous Silicon Thin-Film Devices Fabricated on Free-Standing Foil Substrates….Pages 29-51
Low-temperature Amorphous and Nanocrystalline Silicon Materials and Thin-film Transistors….Pages 53-73
Amorphous Silicon: Flexible Backplane and Display Application….Pages 75-106
Flexible Transition Metal Oxide Electronics and Imprint Lithography….Pages 107-142
Materials and Novel Patterning Methods for Flexible Electronics….Pages 143-181
Sheet-Type Sensors and Actuators….Pages 183-214
Organic and Polymeric TFTs for Flexible Displays and Circuits….Pages 215-260
Semiconducting Polythiophenes for Field-Effect Transistor Devices in Flexible Electronics: Synthesis and Structure Property Relationships….Pages 261-296
Solution Cast Films of Carbon Nanotubes for Transparent Conductors and Thin Film Transistors….Pages 297-328
Physics and Materials Issues of Organic Photovoltaics….Pages 329-371
Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells for Large-Area PV Fabrication on Flexible Substrates….Pages 373-412
Substrates and Thin-Film Barrier Technology for Flexible Electronics….Pages 413-449
Back Matter….Pages 451-462