Gold thin-films (50 nm thick) on silicone membranes are reversibly stretchable. They exhibit continuous electrical conduction when pulled and relaxed by tens of percent. Here, we show that gold thin-film conductors on elastomeric substrates can withstand extensive uniaxial stretch cycling without electrical failure. The gold film develops into an interconnected network of islands, which reversibly move on the surface of the elastomer with applied strain. The resulting electrical resistance of the conductor remains finite and reproducible over 250 000 cycles to 20% applied strain.
REFERENCES
1.
J.
Fjelstad
, Flexible Circuit Technology
, 3rd ed. (BR
, Seaside, Oregon
, 2006
), p. 214
.2.
G. P.
Crawford
, in Flexible Flat Panel Displays
, edited by S.
Wagner
, H.
Gleskova
, I-C.
Cheng
, J. C.
Sturm
, and Z.
Suo
(Wiley
, New York
, 2005
), Chap. 14, p. 556
.3.
T.
Li
, Z.
Huang
, Z.
Suo
, S. P.
Lacour
, and S.
Wagner
, Appl. Phys. Lett.
85
, 3435
(2004
).4.
S.
Befahy
, S.
Yunus
, T.
Pardoen
, and P.
Bertrand
, Appl. Phys. Lett.
91
, 141911
(2007
).5.
S. P.
Lacour
, J.
Jones
, S.
Wagner
, T.
Li
, and Z.
Suo
, Proc. IEEE
93
, 1459
(2005
).6.
T.
Someya
, T.
Sekitani
, S.
Iba
, Y.
Kato
, H.
Kawaguchi
, and T.
Sakurai
, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
101
, 9966
(2004
).7.
F.
Axisa
, D.
Brosteaux
, E.
De Leersnyder
, F.
Bossuyt
, J.
Vanfleteren
, B.
Hermans
, and R.
Puers
, 29th Annual International Conference of the IEEE, Engineering Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS), Lyon
, 23–26 August (2007
), pp. 5687
–5690
.8.
S. P.
Lacour
, S.
Wagner
, Z.
Huang
, and Z.
Suo
, Appl. Phys. Lett.
82
, 2404
(2003
).9.
D. S.
Gray
, J.
Tien
, and C. S.
Chen
, Adv. Mater. (Weinheim, Ger.)
16
, 393
(2004
).10.
M.
Gonzalez
, F.
Axisa
, M.
Vanden Bulcke
, D.
Brosteaux
, B.
Vandenvelde
, and J.
Vanfleteren
, Microelectron. Reliab.
48
, 825
(2008
).11.
S. P.
Lacour
, C.
Tsay
, S.
Wagner
, Z.
Yu
, and B.
Morrison
III, Proceedings of the International Conference on IEEE Sensors
, San Jose
, 30 October-3 November 2005
(IEEE, New York, 2005), pp. 617
–620
.12.
S. P.
Lacour
, D.
Chan
, S.
Wagner
, T.
Li
, and Z.
Suo
, Appl. Phys. Lett.
88
, 204103
(2006
).13.
W. D.
Callister
, Jr., Materials Science and Engineering, An Introduction
(Wiley
, New York
, 1994
), p. 599
.14.
P.
Mandlik
, S. P.
Lacour
, J. W.
Li
, S. Y.
Chou
, and S.
Wagner
, IEEE Electron Device Lett.
27
, 650
(2006
).© 2009 American Institute of Physics.
2009
American Institute of Physics
You do not currently have access to this content.
