Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026
09:59
Fabrication of Flexible Image Sensor Based on Lateral NIPIN Phototransistors
Published on: June 23, 2018
Stretchable high-fill-factor silicon-liquid metal platform for multilevel visual acquisition and depth sensing.
Chansul Park1,2, Do Hyeon Kim3, Woosang You1,2
1Center for Nanoparticle Research, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Nature Materials
|June 8, 2026
Summary
Researchers developed advanced stretchable electronics using silicon pixels and liquid metal, enabling high-performance, shape-reconfigurable devices for robotic vision and wearable sensors.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electronics Engineering
- Robotics
Background:
- Stretchable electronics are crucial for advanced applications like robotic vision and wearable sensors.
- Existing methods for creating stretchable pixelated arrays have limitations in performance, stretchability, and integration density.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel platform for high-density stretchable pixelated electronics.
- To overcome limitations of current technologies for conformable electronic devices.
Main Methods:
- A monolithic microfabrication strategy was employed.
- Integration of high-performance single-crystalline silicon pixels with liquid metal interconnects on ultrathin elastomeric substrates.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated shape-reconfigurable imaging devices with high fill factors (up to 81%) and 100% biaxial stretchability.
- Developed a human-eye-inspired robotic vision system with tunable focus.
- Created a skin-mountable lens-free imaging system.
Conclusions:
- The new platform enables customizable, densely packed, and mechanically compliant pixelated device arrays.
- This technology advances the development of next-generation robotic vision and wearable electronic systems.
- The complementary imaging systems allow for multiscale visual acquisition and depth sensing.
