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Hybrid Printing for the Fabrication of Smart Sensors
Published on: January 31, 2019
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A New Frontier of Printed Electronics: Flexible Hybrid Electronics
Yasser Khan1, Arno Thielens1, Sifat Muin2
1Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|November 20, 2019
Summary
Flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) combines silicon integrated circuits (ICs) with flexible printed electronics. This powerful technology enables high-performance computation and sensing for diverse applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrical Engineering
- Electronics Engineering
Background:
- Silicon integrated circuits (ICs) excel in high-performance computing but lack flexibility.
- Flexible and printed electronics offer large-area compliance but have lower computational efficiency.
- A gap exists in creating electronics that are both high-performance and conformable.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the fundamental building blocks and emerging applications of Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE).
- To discuss the integration of silicon ICs with flexible printed components.
- To highlight the potential of FHE in various sensing and communication domains.
Main Methods:
- Discussion of key FHE components: printed sensors/circuits, thinned silicon ICs, printed antennas, energy harvesting/storage, and displays.
- Review of fabrication techniques for integrating dissimilar materials.
- Analysis of application-specific performance.
Main Results:
- FHE successfully merges the strengths of silicon ICs and flexible electronics.
- Key FHE components enable versatile system design.
- Demonstrated potential across wearable health, structural monitoring, and industrial sensing.
Conclusions:
- Flexible hybrid electronics represent a powerful, versatile technology.
- FHE addresses the limitations of standalone silicon or flexible electronics.
- Significant potential for FHE in advanced sensing, computing, and communication systems.
