Flexible-electronics is rapidly finding many main-stream applications
where low-cost, ruggedness, light weight, unconventional form factors
and ease of manufacturability are just some of the important advantages
over their conventional rigid-substrate counterparts. Flexible
Electronics: Materials and Applications surveys the materials systems
and processes that are used to fabricate devices that can be employed in
a wide variety of applications, including flexible flat-panel displays,
medical image sensors, photovoltaics, and electronic paper. Materials
discussed range from polymeric semiconductors to nanotube transparent
conductors, highlighting the important characteristics of each system
and their target applications. An overview of the performance benchmarks
for the different materials is given in order to allow a direct
comparison of these different technologies. Furthermore, the devices and
processes most suitable for given applications in flexible electronics
are identified.
Topics covered include:
- An overview and history of flexible electronics
- Novel materials for solution-processable thin-film electronic devices
and their properties
- Low-temperature processing of conventional materials and devices on
plastic foils
- Novel techniques, such as printing and roll-to-roll processing, for
large-area flexible electronics manufacturing
- Materials and device physics relevant to flexible electronics
- Device integration on flexible substrates
- Mechanical and electronic characteristics for thin-film transistors
and nano-scale transparent conductors on flexible platforms
- Applications towards flexible displays, sensors, actuators, solar
energy, radio-frequency identification, and micro-electro-mechanical
systems
Written by leading researchers in the field, Flexible Electronics:
Materials and Applications serves as a reference for researchers,
engineers, and students interested in the characteristics, capabilities,
and limitations of these exciting materials and emerging applications.
