Honeycomb-serpentine silicon platform for reconfigurable electronics

Abstract

The shape reconfiguration is an arising concept in advanced electronics research, which allows the electronic platform to change in shape and assume different configurations while maintaining high electrical functionality. The reconfigurable electronic platforms are attractive for state of the art biomedical technologies, where the reshaping feature increases the adaptability and compliance of the electronic platform to the human body. Here, we present an amorphous silicon honeycomb-shaped reconfigurable electronic platform that can reconfigure into three different shapes: the quatrefoil shape, the star shape, and an irregular shape. We show the reconfiguration capabilities of the design in microscale and macroscale fabricated versions. We use finite element method analysis to calculate the stress and strain profiles of the microsized honeycomb-serpentine design at a prescribed displacement of 100 μm. The results show that the reconfiguration capabilities can be improved by eliminating certain interconnects. We further improve the design by optimizing the serpentine interconnect parameters and refabricate the platform on a macroscale to facilitate the reconfiguration process. The macroscale version demonstrates an enhanced reconfiguration capability and elevates the stretchability by 21% along the vertical axis and by 36.6% along the diagonal axis of the platform. The resulting reconfiguring capabilities of the serpentine-honeycomb reconfigurable platform broaden the innovation opportunity for wearable electronics, implantable electronics, and soft robotics.