Active Printed Materials for Complex Self-Evolving Deformations

Flexible, stretchable, and spanning microelectrodes that carry signals from one circuit element to another are needed for many emerging forms of electronic and optoelectronic devices. We have patterned silver microelectrodes by omnidirectional printing of concentrated nanoparticle inks in both uniform and high-aspect ratio motifs with minimum widths of approximately 2 micrometers onto semiconductor, plastic, and glass substrates. The patterned microelectrodes can withstand repeated bending and stretching to large levels of strain with minimal degradation of their electrical properties. With this approach, wire bonding to fragile three-dimensional devices and spanning interconnects for solar cell and light-emitting diode arrays are demonstrated.